Analysts and reporters have been investigating why Fairway, a market with a great history and pedigree, now sits on the brink of default. Crain’s and Bloomberg both took a look at the company’s woes, and assign blame thusly.
- Debt: “After gorging on debt to finance its growth plans, the company is now at risk of breaching its credit covenants when its fiscal quarter ends on April 3, according to a Wednesday report by Moody’s Investors Service analyst Mickey Chadha.” Bloomberg
- Poor marketing: “The company hasn’t done enough to communicate its offerings to shoppers who may not be familiar with it, said Mike Paglia, director of retail insights at consulting firm Kantar Retail.” Bloomberg
- Competition: “Fairway rose to the fore a decade ago because it offered a much better selection and prices than tired old A&Ps or Gristedes. But in recent years lots of Fairway shoppers have migrated to new Whole Foods stores and Trader Joe’s.” Crain’s
- Failure to differentiate itself as it expanded: “Fairway’s slogan is ‘like no other market,’ but too many of its stores were like every other market.” Crain’s
- Ownership’s unfamiliarity with running supermarkets. “Sterling [which bought Fairway from the founding Glickberg family] had no experience in supermarkets, where profits at even the best-run companies are measured in pennies on the dollar.” Crain’s
The company now has 15 stores, but several are likely to close. But Crain’s notes that the UWS location is likely safe: “It seems likely the Upper West Side stores will survive because the properties are controlled by a partnership partially owned by Howard Glickberg, while other locations are leased from other landlords,” Crain’s reports.
I started going to Fairway eons ago. Prices were low and quality was high. (Of course, the environment was appalling, the help was surly and they always short-weighted the meat and chicken.) NOW prices are ordinary to high (compared to Trader Joe for the exact same product), quality is ordinary to poor (including but not limited to food poisoning from prepared foods), I no longer buy meat or chicken there and the environment is still appalling.
The checkers have been trained to say, “Thank you for shopping at Fairway,” but I’m afraid it’s too little too late.
Arrogant management. One time I suggested removing the stop sign at the exit from the parking lot onto Marginal St. I explained that a stop sign means stop, then proceed, so customers were using it as an exit when they weren’t supposed to. The manager snickered like I was some sort of kook. Then a month later, lo and behold, the stop sign was gone.
Once Fairway was taken over by a Wall Street hedge fund, the business model was to price gouge the customers. Fairway is now more expensive than Whole Paycheck (Foods).
The loyal clientele, of which I am one, had been accustomed for years to great quality and low prices. Then, overnight, prices began to rise. It seemed like every day, prices increased.
Greed, avarice, horrible customer service were the hallmarks of the post hedge fund Fairway.
Eve- I totally agree with you.
Agree. The shopping experience at the UWS store is so unpleasant but the products and prices were good now prices are not much better than completion so go less often. Was happy to see fairway olive oil for $6.99 maybe change is in the air.
Same old story — the next generation of the original family that built it from scratch sold out to a bunch of corporate blood-suckers who tried to leach every last penny out of the business that they could.
I’m afraid the greed didn’t start with the hedge fund. They short-weighted the meat and chicken for years. I discovered it when I started using a food scale for my recipes.
What was so fun about shopping at Fairway on W74th St. to begin with? Huge pieces of fruit inside the store piled so high that you couldn’t reach it. And if you pulled one piece out from the middle, it rained oranges and apples. they had canned goods piled so high that you ran the risk of getting a concussion. And the “typical” Fairway customer who took great pride and pleasure in running you over with a shopping cart. I had a lady shove me to the side once because in her opinion I was taking too long to make my selection. It was like a maze in there. And the price were competitive but never cheap cheap. For cheap, try that farmer’s market on W52nd St. What was great was the “deli” counter and the prepared foods. Now this stuff is absolutely tasteless.
Sean, watching apples and oranges rain down on your fellow UWSers does sound like fun.
I could never understand why the Upper West Side store was so popular. It was always an awful shopping experience. Overcrowded and confusing aisles, rude staff. I also went to a Fairway in CT and it was bigger and more spacious but nothing particularly nice about it especially compared to Whole Foods.
Fairway used to have good prices and great produce. Now their prices are nothing special and the produce is terrible. What’s the use of having 500 apples if one is as soft and bruised as the next. Fairway offers zero enhanced value compared to any of its competitors. They have become the Gristedes that everyone went to Fairway to avoid.
The moral of this story is never buy stock in a company that has been taken public by a private equity firm.
PE firms often squeeze all the cash they can out of a company while they own it. They load up the company with debt to get the funds for these payouts.
When the company goes public it is the new shareholders who are stuck with this debt and the stock price of the company takes a hit because the company is drowning in debt.
This is exactly what happened with Fairway.
Fairway was “like no other market” — and like most of those that have gone to the WS people — Dean & Deluca, Balducci’s, etc….even Organic Avenue…..once the financial types come in….the plan is to always grow grow grow…and the place becomes corporate and loses all those things that make it special….for better or worse.
“Thank you for shopping at Fairway?” I much prefer the old “NEXT”
Recently, they have been cheapening their product (for instance, the vichyssoise now has yoghurt instead of only cream) and paring down their selection (fewer pasta sauces and fewer cheeses.) The quality seems to have gone downhill recently. Their own-brand chocolates are mediocre at best. Even their mozzarella seems to be less good than in the past. I rely on Fairway and hope that they figure it out and come back.
Hedge fund will run into the ground. Family will buy back for pennies on the dollar, build it back up, and sell it again to the next set of fools.
IF Fairway closes Whole Paycheck will be able to increase their prices even more
I don’t have any problem with Fairway. Sure, it’s crowded, but once you know that, you enter into a Zen space and roll with it. Their long lines are no big deal (they are certainly much longer at Trader Joes) and they always have what I’m looking for, which is more than I can say for their competitors.
What a bunch of winery’s. I live right near the 74th st store and once you have the lay of the land its easy. The rest of you go shop at Dag’s or C Town with no one there because the food and produce are horrible. Fairway is an institution, the best of the best. Where can you find a cheese dept like Fairway has? Yes the price’s have gone up but where hasn’t. Try eating at a restaurant in the neighborhood and see those prices. Chinese restaurant’s don’t even have lunch menu’s on the weekend. I am so tired of everybody bitching and moaning. Don’t shop there but if you do stop all your complaining
I have shopped in Fairway for more years than I can remember. The sign may still say the same thing, but the Fairway we knew is long gone. It’s beyond sad, but it happened for reasons. For one, the prepared food has declined so much that some of it should not be sold. It should be dumped. It’s beyond bad-and it used to be quite good. The rest is the same as anywhere else, and the prices are now the same as Whole Foods. Frankly I think this is the quintessential case of the new/old economy. Hedge funds with no knowledge, no background in the food industry taking over a food chain. Then refinancing and sucking all the assets out of it to put in their paychecks and bonuses. It’s part of all that is wrong with America. And now its destroyed a really good brand. Quite hard to believe, but I don’t shop there anymore. If I pay a little more at Citarella’s or Whole Food, so be it. I’m getting good quality, fresh food from people who at least understand the food business they’re in.
I regularly shop at the W74 Street and Harlem stores. I find the quality of their products excellent and the prices average. The stores are way better than my current options. Our local Food Emporium just closed. The quality at Fairway is great! I hope they manage to stay in business!!
Sorry but the problem with Fairway UWS is that it is gross. I know they have a lot of foot traffic but – there is a layer of grime on everything. The prepared food is subpar and expensive. The meat sections smells like garbage sometimes and the ex-cons that work the fish counter work as slow as possible. The layout is hideous. Honestly they should just close the place for a month and re-arrange everything. I will say the cashiers are generally nice and I enjoy the café upstairs.
Every time there is a story about Fairway, commenters rant about hedge funds. Fairway was not bought by a hedge fund. It was bought by a private equity firm. There is a difference (and no, I do not work for either kind of firm). If you’re going to rant, at least rant about the right thing.
I used to love Fairway, and still do kinda. However, they raise prices with impunity.rather, they gouge with impunity. Why do white kids refuse to accept jobs at Fairway? Because they aren’t fluent in espanol the official language at fway?
I shop there many times a week and the hostility and sense of entitlement on the part of the staff is palpable-‘like no other market’ Seems as if fairway recruits directly from the border.
The UWS store has the rudest clientele of any grocery store I have ever been in. Walk by that store on any given day at any given time and see if someone walks out of the store in front of you as if you’re invisible. I can guarantee it. And inside it’s even worse. I wish they’d close it and bring back the Gristedes.
Decline of quality in EVERYTHING, increasing prices sometimes 100% – e.g., bottle of seltzer went from 50 cents to $1.00. I have saved receipts from there for years and can document the insane increases in everything and I am “paying” for not only decline in quality, but “managers” who are clueless and service that is negligent.
Just remember for all the carping here and elsewhere about the “evil rich” and the hedge fund guys, it was the owners that agreed to be bought out?
Typical UWS progressive BS, bitch and moan about how life should be lived and then when someone comes along and says I can make you rich you grab it with both hands and don’t let go. That exactly what happened here,
Also there had be a split among the partners awhile ago so there have been problems for a while
Yes, prices have gone up everywhere, but the draw of Fairway was that you were able to get excellent quality at cheaper prices — particularly for produce. Prices are not only not cheaper, but they are higher for many items. There just doesn’t seem to be any reason to shop there.
Zabar’s has a better cheese section and cheaper prices. That has long been the case. And please note — when you make a noun plural, you don’t put an apostrophe before the s. I was willing to overlook it once as a typo, but cringed as you did it again and again.
Sorry, that was in response to JS #17 above
I live on the UWS (where I have vowed, and succeeded, to never shop in the 74th street store again) but have occasion to go to the Fairway in Paramus on occasion. The Paramus store is never crowded; its ‘s a very awkward, dying mall; the layout is horrible; and the prices are not cheap compared to the nearby Stop and Shop, Trader Joe, or Shop Rite. (Other newly-branded small-chain markets have been popping up all over Bergen County and they all miss the mark). Fairway could justify their prices if they provided an experience—a la Stew Leonards—but they don’t. There is no focus. No distinction. No “hook.”
To me, the attraction of the UWS Fairway was that it was a “real” full-service grocery store in a market of smaller specialty shops—but when every Target sells groceries, that scenario is long past.
Forgot to add that the produce section, which should be their highlight, looks dingy and dirty. Whole foods does a much better job of making their produce look fresh and inviting.
@witness,
I agree the draw of Fairway on the UWS is that it is a real grocery store. Trader Joe’s and While Foods don’t carry everything. Cinderella and Zabar’s are speciality stores. While the commenters complaining about higher prices and worse selection are absolutely right, if the 74th St location closes it will leave a void the I fear people will turn to delivery to fill. Target may sell groceries but I can’t walk to one. We shouldn’t live in NYC and not be able to walk to a real grocery store.
Wegmans can’t get here fast enough.
Fairway, Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s are each imperfect in individual ways.
It would be a huge problem if Fairway closed.
The neighborhood needs a food store, particularly with the loss of Food Emporium.
The crowds at Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s are already horrible IMO – not possible to stuff more shoppers there.
Moving to Fresh Direct or other food delivery is not only impossible for many people – it would also mean a big increase in traffic.
And Brandon is spot on – living on the UWS and not be able to walk to a regular food market is unfathomable. The point in being here is that it is a neighborhood and it is walkable.
Wouldn’t be a problem for me if Fairway closed; I hardly ever go there anymore. I would be happy if Trader Joe cloned itself in the space. Shorter lines, although waiting in the Trader Joe line is paradise compared to being shoved and screamed at in Fairway.
The website also is not very user-friendly. Hard to figure out what’s on sale.
Love the Fairway cafe…..
Just saw this on Twitter:. @Elphygirl oh no, we’re so sorry! Can you please email details to support@fairwaymarket.com so we can follow up?
Hilarious – I remember when I would try to return things that were spoiled – I would get a snarled, “You opened it!” Well, how else would I find out that it was spoiled?
On a day when all the stock markets were up, Fairway stock was down 12.32%. What goes around comes around, I’m afraid.
I really only buy packaged food and goods at Fairway. The “fresh” produce is often not fresh. I have thrown a quite a bit out. Many cuts of meat and fish are the same price as Citarella (and there they fresh). I once brought fresh jumbo shrimp there and when the guy handed the bag to me – I realized it was room temperature. I told the guy behind he counter and he just laugh as though I was being paranoid. I gave it back and went next door where it was ice cold and fresher looking. The cashiers vary greatly in attitude from friendly to down right rude. But I agree there needs to be a place to buy the standard grocery items on UWS that aren’t available at Trader Joe or Whole Foods.
Food, food, nom nom nom, food, rude, pricey, nom nom nom, Trader Joe’s, food food glrrrppppppp (stroke/heart attack)
The old fairway was always the worst experience of my day but at least I could rely on good food..now the food is so bad I can’t even look at it. I’ve returned chicken and salmon several times. Look at the honey salmon in the deli case…it’s grey. The chicken breasts taste spoiled.I heard they no longer cook on the premises. It’s just so awful. The lines are ridiculous as they fired many cashiers. Poor fairway..they should close and reorganize. And the hot food bar..who designed the shape?? Ridiculous..sad..a “U” shaped food bar that fits 2 people?? Crazy. Eh I could go on but why? I want a super market–clean polite and English speaking-Morton Williams perhaps. Is that too much to ask?
Finally….a sane comment.
I have never, in the 37 years I’ve lived on the UWS, encountered anything BUT courteous and helpful employees. Nor do I personally know ANYONE who has.
Have any of you whiny UWS kvetches noticed that prices at Whole Foods and Trader Joes have gone up also or is this just a “bitch about Fairway” session?? And how many of you figured out those 2 underground dungeons’ layout the first few times you shopped there?? If you’re still wandering Fairway’s aisles aimlessly after shopping there a few times, you’re not smart enough to shop by yourself.
Maybe I’m just lucky at never having been snarled at by staff, shorted on my meat purchases, or was so lost in the aisles that I found it necessary to publicly complain. Or maybe….just maybe…it’s because I don’t exhibit your obnoxious attitudes IN the store as well as online.
the abovecomment was in response to #17, JS.
First of all! Who can we compare Fairway to? Yes there is Citarella & Zabars but they have their own specialty. Fairway is by far the most awesome market as it appeals to every shopper on every level with the best quality and best prices. So the statement below is sooooooo out of whack unless you live in the burbs and have no clue to how special this Market is. There is no other market like Fairway * soooo true.
Failure to differentiate itself as it expanded: “Fairway’s slogan is ‘like no other market,’ but too many of its stores were like every other market.” Crain’s
I will crumble if Fairway leaves the UWS. It’s the ONLY place for delicious bagels and french bread, imo, anywhere uptown. (I’ve seen restaurant staff buying bagettes by the dozen.) Their black and white cookies, while not as good as the incomparable “Chris’s Cookies” that they no longer carry, are still terrific and their scones are better than any! Their greens are terrible, it’s true, but I need my bread and cakes!
A friend of mine, who has shopped at Fairway for more than forty years, calls the current offering of produce “used food.” The main issue for all seems to be “higher prices, much lower quality.” For me, it’s all the new and never-heard-of brands. Where’s the Vita herring? (We’ve requested that they get certain products; they’ve said “OK,” and then nothing.) So now we shop at several stores to do a weekly food shop.
Fairway has great produce and products, this can’t be denied. Meats, fish, cheese, produce are top notch.
However, the store on 74th St is dirty and crowded and in desperate need of a face lift and update. The staff is rude and the check out clerks are unfriendly. I hate the way the check out tellers yell “NEXT” when they are available. The management owes the loyal customers and staff better service and the staff deserves to be trained to be professional. The aisles are so crowded, it’s a challenge shopping there. The elevator to the second floor is a joke, it is so slow and always dirty.
Both Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s offer professional and courteous customer service, maybe that is why people enjoy shopping there better?
Let’s see, where would I rather shop, in a clean store with friendly staff or in a store that makes me feel like I am in the shopping in the subway?
I hope Fairway can clean up their act, even if it means closing down and refurbishing the store, it’s certainly time to give back to a community that has supported them for so long.
Fairway is the still the best UWS option. The produce is great. What competition are you talking about?
I am sad to hear; Fairway has better selection in healthy and organic and costs less than Whole Foods.
For a company whose stock has dropped from $26 (in 2013) to $0.33 today, it does not look like it’s future will require shades to look at. If it goes it will be a YUGE hole in the UWS lifestyle. Single people (such as myself) don’t have much use for Fresh Direct and while the quality of the produce at Fairway has clearly deteriorated in the past couple of years, it is still no where near the rock bottom quality of produce on offer at Trader Joe’s (a/k/a Aldi).
Karen #45, when is that last time you shopped at Fairway on the UWS? It certainly has it’s faults but recently the cashiers say “Thank you for shopping at Fairway” instead of “Next” and there are now 2 elevators. You seem to be complaining about a Fairway that no longer exists, perhaps the one others loved or maybe the interim version between the old beloved Fairway and the current one.