As Fairway’s Business Slumps, ShopRite Floated as Possible Buyer of Flagship Broadway Store
By Carol Tannenhauser
Could ShopRite or another supermarket chain take over Fairway’s Upper West Side store?
The New Jersey-based supermarket retailer was recently seen touring the West 74th Street store, “with an interest in acquiring the real estate,” according to the New York Post. This came amid reports that Fairway is preparing to file for bankruptcy this month, after failing to sell off its 14 stores.
The fate of the flagship depends on whether the potential bankruptcy action results in a reorganization or a liquidation. If Fairway files for bankruptcy the flagship could survive if the company has a confirmed plan of reorganization that enables the store to remain open. If the company fails to confirm a plan, it may be forced to liquidate (sell) its assets, including the West Side store.
“If they are selling their flagship store, which makes all the money, this could be a liquidation instead of a reorganization,” a “well-placed” source told the Post. This would be the second time within four years that the iconic market went bankrupt.
Fairway’s downturn started in 2007 when the Glickberg family sold an 80% stake to private equity firm Sterling Investment for $140 million. Four generations of the family had owned and operated a handful of Fairways in NYC, starting with a fruit-and-vegetable stand that opened in 1933.
The private equity firm expanded the store base to the suburbs and added debt, taking the company public in 2013. But it was forced to file for bankruptcy in May 2016 when financial conditions deteriorated. Fairway was bought out of bankruptcy the first time by an investment arm of Blackstone, which sold its stake, according to the Post. It’s now owned by other financial firms, and large amounts of debt will be coming due in the next few years, the Post reports. Whether Fairway will be “rescued” again remains to be seen.
Neither Fairway nor ShopRite responded to several requests for comments.
What about West Side Market coming back ?? PLEASE !!
I confess that I now do my day-to-day grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s, because the prices are so far below anything else around. I only go to Fairway for specialty stuff, like nova or olives. So 20 years ago, virtually all my grocery money went to Fairway, now $15 goes to Fairway and $60 goes to Trader Joe’s. I’ve been shopping at Fairway for 35 years !!
Let’s take a vote, I’m sure these profit-seeking enterprises will abide.
Yes yes yes to Westside Market!!! I’m about to eat their grilled lemon chicken and wonderful Portuguese rolls and salad. I went up to 97th st.just to buy food. Fairway has got to go. If Westside Market doesn’t want to be here – that’s another story..but they have opened all over the city…so why not? Actually, Citarella has fallen down on their food lately,it’s not very good and mountains of food are left at night hopefully going to charity. I wouldn’t miss them at all. Just a thought, give more space to our new super-duper market. West Side super-duper Market.oh well you never know.
In the end, a neighborhood gets the supermarkets that it deserves.
That’s not accurate at all. The neighborhood has and will continue (as long as we’re able) to support this store. It’s their most profitable location and is the bulk of their cash flow. The problem is the debt they took on to fund the rest of the expansion.
Shoprite? What is this, Queens? Suffolk County? Go away Shoprite! How about a another location of Agata & Valentina?
One keeps forgetting how provincial many Manhattan residents truly are in various ways.
Shoprite supermarkets in NJ and other suburbs are really rather nice. They often put “Grosstidies” and other local Manhattan/NYC chains to shame.
https://www.theshelbyreport.com/2019/06/17/shoprite-new-milford-nj/
Totally agree. People from this neighborhood need to leave Manhattan occasionally. There’s a lot of great things out there to see and do.
I know the ShopRite can can commercials are corny, but the actual supermarkets are perfectly fine – definitely nicer than Gristedes and likely comparable to Food Emporium. They are clean, a good assortment of products, good produce, and reasonable prices. Locations in nicer areas tend to by nature be nicer.
No supermarket will make everyone happy but I would be perfectly fine with a ShopRite in the neighborhood.
And to those criticizing the family that owned Fairway, it is their company and they are allowed to do what they want with it. It is somewhat unfortunate that they sold out to private equity, but that is their prerogative. Capitalism works like that…
What a nasty, snobbish thing to say! I think MANY people on the Upper West Side would be overjoyed to have an old-fashioned, unfancy and affordable place to shop, and to suggest having Agata and Valentina, a high quality but very overpriced specialty store catering strictly to the well-to-do, to set up shop here is absurd and out of touch.
Thanks DM for your sweet words! Here are “old-fashioned, unfancy” supermarkets in the area that you seem to think don’t exist: 1)Keyfood 2)Broadway Farm 3)Pioneer 4)Associated. Go away Shoprite! Come on in Agata & Valentina!
Shoprite is actually a really well run, super clean and well priced store. I grew shopping in one in Rockland County and would be thrilled if they actually came into NYC, though I adore Fairways and would be really sad to see them go.
Don’t be so negative about Shop Rite. I shopped at the Rochelle Park store for 35 Years when I lived in New Jersey. Prices were good, the place was clean, had everything and they were always open, and most importantly, you rarely ever had to wait on line. It is still the best supermarket I have ever been to. The issue though with Shop Rite is that it is a cooperative with several different ownership groups. In Manhattan, I believe Morton Williams is a member of the Shop Rite coop and they are small and expensive, but some of the suburban groups are really top retailers. I would take on any day to replace the Fairway in Kips Bay located around the corner from my building.
I also love ShopRite, where I shop frequently up in their Scarsdale store. Great food and great prices, super clean and fresh produce, meats and other specialties, including great hot and cold food bars. I would shop there in a NY minute!!!
Don’t be so snooty.
The greedy bumbleheads of “private equity” strike again. Everything exists to them only to be exploited, their own skins protected by corporate bankruptcy laws even as they destroy another venerable family-built institution. A pox on them all.
The family that built Fairway cashed out long ago. They got paid. No need to shed any tears on their behalf.
A Wegmans at W. 74th would be perfect. And the family that built that brand is still in control.
It would be a real challenge for Wegman’s to shoehorn itself into that space, but I think they are up to the task. Those guys could probably figure out a way to have a great store on the moon.
I would LOVE a wegmans, but they’d probably be better off looking at the old food emporium/Lowe’s space, or even the Gracious Home space, both of which are still empty and probably has a better footprint for a large supermarket layout. Part of the problem with that particular Fairway location is how disjointed the entire cobbled-together space is (of course, if someone were to take it over, they could gut the space and make it more logical).
EXACTLY !
Here’s a quote from a retail website:
“…more than 15% of retailers acquired by private equity firms over the past 15 years have filed for Chapter 11, including … Toys R Us, Sports Authority….”
Not to mention Brookstone, Gymboree, Payless, etc.
The last 15 years have been a tough environment for all retailers, whether or not they were bought by private equity firms. To properly interpret this 15% statistic, we would need to compare it to the percentage of all retailers overall that went into chapter 11 during the same period.
I remember there was a drug store on the corner of 74 & Bway before Fairway annexed it. The second floor of Fairway – restaurant / health food, was a health club, before Fairway annexed that.
It’s sadly deteriorated before my eyes. So mismanaged. Yes once it was sold to Private Equity firm, done. I almost avoid going in if not necessary. Was iconic UWS food mkt. Now not so much….
I mean, I’ll just go next door to Citarella. I’m not going to ShopRite.
Citarella: home of the $8 banana
Tape that $8.00 Banana to a wall and now you got $120,000.00!
I agree! I would love to see a ShopRite in the neighborhood! The consummate Supermarket that has gone the way of the dinosaur up here! Let’s have a come back of affordable groceries!
But better prices for broccoli than Fairway’s. Go figure…
I’ve never seen a ShopRite so I don’t have a clue what the problem is here. Is it a regular grocery store like the Food Emporium? Isn’t that what everyone has been asking for?
Yes, it is a regular grocery store. We need that. Sometimes people want to buy Cheerios and Coca Cola along with their vegetables and quinoa.
Thank you for the reply! I would love to have a one-stop shopping option in the neighborhood. : )
Pathmark is actually a good supermarket that has low prices and lots of food of all ethnicities. I think you’d all find yourselves shopping there in addition to Trader Joe and Zabars.
Pathmark (and its sibling A&P) went out of business a few years ago – where have you been hiding?
To those who are afraid of ShopRite, calm down. It’s a real supermarket where you can purchase all your groceries, veggies, coffee, etc. Do you need a small or large box of an item? ShopRite carries multiple sizes of everything.
Yes, Fairway is a neighborhood institution, and I have been in the neighborhood since the mid 1980s. But just as the Lower East Side pushcarts have disappeared, maybe it’s time for Fairway to go.
The real question is whether ShopRite (or anyone) can gut the Fairway location and replace it with a shiny clean bright store with big aisles and fit everything into the space (is this space landmarked – ha).
To those who are still skittish, take the F train to Avenue I in Brooklyn (or the PATH to Hoboken, or rent a Zipcar to see locations in Westchester) and find out what you have been missing.
Bring back Bohack and Food Fair.
Back when my vision allowed it I was looking over the shoulder of a young idiot with an analysis of the 2007 Fairway expansion plan and I was able to read that confidential advice on all its glory.
Let’s just say they were warned. As in two thumbs way down warned.
If Fairway goes out — PLEASE let that not happen! — will we wind up with a bank or a nail salon in that space? (That’s what seems to go everywhere.)
Oh, for West Side Market and not a dinosaur of a super market!
ShopRite wouldn’t work in that location. If ShopRite wanted to buy some of the Fairway stores in NYC and run them as Fairways, using their combined marketing clout to control prices while maybe learning something about high-end groceries, that might be okay.
If they ran it like they used to run it, the 74th Street and 125th street locations (and probably the one in Red Hook) should be able to be profitable. I don’t know enough about the other stores, but they pretty much ought to stick to Manhattan.
I don’t feel sorry for the founding family, but I do feel sorry for those of us that are losing one of the stores that made the Upper West Side the Upper West Side.
What was wrong with running a profitable family business? The Glickbergs were just greedy . . . Whatever happened to community values? I stopped shopping at Fairway when the finance guys took over: they ruined the place & I didn’t want to help them get richer. Wegmans would be fantastic! West Side Market, also great!
Why the hate for ShopRite? If it can offer a full-scale supermarket to the UWS without the absurd prices at Gristedes, it should be welcome. It’s not trendy, but I’ve been to ShopRites in suburbia and they’re okay. But I doubt they’d go into the Fairway space: it’s too small. That’s why we’re losing supermarkets: modern supermarkets need massive square footage to be profitable.
Seconded. ShopRite is a pretty great suburban grocery store. Selection is broad, food is fresh, prices are good. I’d be happy to have one nearby.
It doesn’t feel like Fairway, though, which is woven into the fabric of the UWS and vice versa. (And the Fairways I’ve been to in suburbia, like Paramus, are unsatisfying for the opposite reason.) Let’s hope this process ends well for all parties.
We will take ShopRite at 86th and Broadway where Gristedes and Banana republic use to be
Yes! Excellent idea. Thanks so much!
Amen to that!
In wake of A&P bankruptcy that shuttered many NYC/NYS stores city council passed a new local law; anyone buying an existing supermarket must keep current employees for a certain period.
That alone is probably one reason to put serious buyers of Fairway off. Someone will buy the real estate, but not Fairway.
Fairway was doomed as other places began to ramp up their organic or whatever offerings. Then came Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods which pushed that knife in deeper.
Out in suburbs Fairway was competing with likes of Wegmans and even stores like Shoprite that upped their game over past few years.
I will be so depressed if we lose our Fairway. It would be great if someone came in and bought the profitable locations (assuming UWS and 125th at least) and kept running them as Fairway. They’ve made so many positive changes at the 74th Street location in the last year, it would be terrible to lose all of that. Shoprite? Ugh. 🙁
I would much rather have a trendy and hip supermarket on the UWS. Stop this affordable crazy talk.
I’m a regular Fairway shopper – and then lug all my groceries home 15 blocks. Please, please, please do not let us lose another supermarket. We need to buy groceries somewhere, and as hard as Key Food is trying to fill the gap, it falls short a lot. We regularly shop and lug things home 15-17 blocks. I love the UWS, but it’s becoming inconvenient to live here.
They also deliver for those who don’t want to brave the 15 block schlep
As a frequent customer of Shoprite in NJ, I don’t see it happening. Those stores are huge. And, to make it work they could not offer the same low prices they offer out in the suburbs. Unfortunate, because at least the Shoprites I go to are really nice and have great selection at great prices.
The problem of course is the amt of debt they took on to expand quickly (too quickly). Also, it doesn’t help that a lot of families and younger people now use FreshDirect and other delivery services for most of their groceries. I admit that I only now shop at Fairway to get Ben’s Natural Cream Cheese (though I can also get this at Zabar’s) and the occassional British cracker or cookie that isn’t available anywhere else. I was skeptical at first about FreshDirect but my husband (who hates grocery shopping) converted me. The produce and meats are always very fresh and of high quality. The prices are on par with Manhattan prices. And you don’t have to lug things home.
Why such a big deal? Just get your groceries delivered from Amazon Prime Now / Whole Foods?
“The UWS needs more grocery stores!”…but not that one, or that one, or even that one…
Does anyone wonder if it will affect the other tenants of that building such as Steps ballet?
Fairway only owns the building next to Citarella. They rent the other half of the store at 663k. That lease is up.
Personally I enjoy going to a supermarket although I must admit I spend more money as I see things I had not thought about buying. I don’t like these order/delivery places because I want to see what I buy. I enjoy Fairway’s variety but it is out of walking distance. I miss Food Emporium and DAgostinos.
As one who spends half of each week in NJ, I believe I am expert on supermarket shopping in both locations. Almost weekly, I load my car with groceries requested by my kids (who live in the city) at Shoprite and bring it to them. Nothing wrong with saving 30-40%! For example, a gallon of milk – $2.69!
I vote for Aldi.
We have Aldi in NJ. Prices are great!
Yes. . . I believe that Aldi owns Trader Joe’s, but T.J’s is operated as a separate entity (according to “on-line” research). One good thing I observe is that the Aldi “over corporation” left Trader Joe’s, a successful operation, alone and didn’t try to change it.
Barf-Aldi’s is a low rent, disgusting, down market joint. Wouldn’t work in NYC, let alone the UWS. Ugh.
From cnn.com:
“On a recent trip to an Aldi in Hackensack, New Jersey, luxury vehicles, including a $50,000 Jaguar and an $80,000 Tesla Model X, dotted the small parking lot alongside Toyotas, Fords and Hondas.”
So much for your down market. Not to mention that there are already Aldi’s in NYC – Manhattan, the Bronx, and Queens. My husband and I occasionally shop at Aldi’s. There’s no shame in it. Aldi’s attracts a cross-section of customers. You can go ahead and pay $1.70 for a can of beans in NYC, while I happily will pay 50 cents at Aldi’s.
And Aldi’s and TJ’s are not owned by the same company:
https://www.thekitchn.com/aldi-trader-joes-parent-company-rumor-260999
Shoprite is great. Wegmans would be a dream come true. I first went to Aldi’s when I went up to 117th St. It’s pretty darn good. Any one of those would work at the Fairway location as far as I’m concerned.
There are also tons of brand new empty stores on Amsterdam around 100th Street. For a short time there was an Associated Market in one of them. It even had a Kosher meat section. It would be great for Shoprite/Wegman’s/Aldi to open there, as well. Take a couple of the huge spaces and put together something that I’d be happy to shop in.
I shop in Trader Joe’s a least twice a week, but there is plenty that they don’t have. Key Food is fine for canned goods and packaged groceries. Mani Market is perfect for deli and produce. Westside Market is great for coffee and produce. The good news is, I like the exercise so I don’t mind walking to all of them.
Feels like someone will buy the 74th street location for the real estate and redevelop it. The site isn’t being used for its highest and best use and given its 100% commercial it’s easier to develop than existing residential (and it’s next to an express subway line). Maybe a developer could put a Wegman’s in the base?
I’m good with Shoprite or west side market….
WE NEED A SUPERMARKET!
YES YES YES!!!!!!!
Wow. Fairway started to suck years ago. There was no point to putting up with the obnoxiously crowded aisles once the quality of the food went down. I buy everything out of town (yes, at Shop Rite) and schlep it in. The money I save on groceries pays for my car.
If Fairway does indeed close, Shoprite would be an excellent replacement. Cost savings of 30-40%. For example, a gallon of milk $2.69.
•Have we forgotten that before it was Fairway it was—shudder!—a D’Agostino’s? (Back to the future, or forward to the past?)
•ShopRite, Wegman’s (dream on!), Stop & Shop (if you’re gonna dream, dream big!), and a Price Chopper or a Hannaford’s (if you’re really gonna dream, go for PARADISE!)—even in a context where there’s NO big chain supermkt on Bway from 75th to …, it’s time to drop a lot of our UWS food snobbery! We’re not about to starve, whatever eventually takes the space.
•But in an “achievable” perfect world (leaving politics aside, of course): I’d like to see West Side Market take the Fairway space, and the Key Foods* the ex-Gristede’s/GAP on 86th & Bway, or the ex-Banana Republic on the NE corner.
*The current dinky, cramped one on 86th & Amst. is actually decently prun, by a generally helpful and accommodating staff!
I remember D’Agostino’s; before we got spoiled it was a perfectly normal place to shop. Now, nothing is chic enough. I remember Food Town, CTown, Red Apple and Sloan’s, too. And Zabars, and a butcher shop. And some bodegas along the way. With Fairway, from 75th to 86th, something on every other block. Your choices for shopping were broad and deep. And fun.
Wegmans! We want Wegmans on the Upper West Side!
I was told recently by a worker at gourmet garage on 66 and Broadway that they were being taken over by ShopRite. Also they are not selling pizzas anymore which is a shame.
Dk
The 66th Street Gourmet Garage is a tiny location. I can’t see any suburban chain supermarket there.
If I wanted to shop at Shoprite, I would move to the outer boroughs or New Jersey. No thank you. First Dunkin Donuts, now Shoprite? Every day it’s less appealing to live here.
You can’t equate Dunkin’ Donuts with Shoprite. Dunkin’ has been in NYC since the 1960s and has 500+ locations. Not everyone here can afford a $6 latte and $4 muffin.
You can’t equate Dunkin’ Donuts with Shoprite. Dunkin’ has been in NYC since the 1960s and has 500+ locations. Not everyone here can afford a $6 latte and $4 muffin.
Maybe if FreshDirect paid for the space they occupy (ie, many street corners and walkways), Fairway would have a fighting chance.
I would so welcome a good old American type grocery store. The neighborhood is growing exponentially without enough food options. God bless Fairway, but I always found their layout ungainly. I’ve been using Met Food for ages now but would like a choice.
It’s not about the store; it’s about the real estate. If Fairway fails you’ll see another coop/condo for zillionaires replace that 4-story building. Gone will be a beloved neighborhood grocery store plus businesses that serve the community: Steps dance studio, the Feldenkrais Learning Center, physical therapists, etc. #makewayforbillionaires
Probably not. This real estate has been owned by the Astor family for decades and decades, perhaps since the building was built. They have always been known for fair and modest rent increases. That’s why STEPS is still there. A friend of mine rented on the 4th floor for more than 20 years, in the 90s and the 00’s.
I fear that this is the likely scenario that will come about once the business is sold or dissolved.
We definitely need a market – any market – there. And one w good quality produce. The produce selection at TJ’s is limited (and too often wrapped in unnecessary packaging). And sometimes there is a line just to enter TJs. Ridiculous.
PS, the customer service at Fairway is so poor lately, I’m not sorry to see them go.
In all do respect….(because of the store being here so long and what’s it’s gone through and how it got here) I would gladly see a newer and cleaner supermarket in place of this horrible smelly dirty store that I dread shopping at as much as I can and will not miss the pushing and shoving and the help not knowing where anything is. yes, I do look forward to a ShopRite store coming in and making it easier and cleaner way to shop.
HAVE BEEN DEPENDING ON FAIRWAY’S URRENT BROad mix of inventory. there’s not many other places to go to food and grocery shop, in the area.
NOT HAPPY, though at misrepresentation of store
hours: Before holidays, store was truly open 24 hrs. But now it’s a misrepresentation. Depts., such as deli, manager’s desk, fish, etc are locked up, with cases emmptied at 9 oclock
Main advantage for store was that they could do restocking in the night hours, and keep a few cashiers on hand, for dry goods. Organization at front end (which lines are open, etc.?) is non existence. Cashier morale is low and some newbies are unfriendly and unhelpful.
1. Reading all the comments, it seems that one may need to go to more than one store to purchase whatever one wants and needs. A lot of running around, which busy City-ites may not have time for. 2. Fairway’s prices have slowly increased, and the store operates like a Job Lot and Bueno Bargains in the recent past. Now two bankruptcy filings? Oh, those leveraged buyout people just love to loot the stores they buy.
At one time Fairway was a place to try and find many unique unique items that I came to enjoy. Like Balsamic spaghetti sauce, unique cheese selection with knowledgeable people (Who remembers Cookie, and Blacks?) Hand milled Spanish Chocolate. Unfortunately their products are far more generic. Guess you can’t live in the past.
Well that explains everything.. why they can’t get certain products anymore.
I stopped going there and shop Amazon Whole Foods.
The reason supermarkets are closing all over the city is because they are no longer profitable. In the past, city supermarkets were able to raise prices as their costs of doing business in the city went up. Today that is no longer possible since Amazon/Internet and Trader Joes sell so inexpensively. Minimum wage for example is now $15 after four years of 15% a year increases. The city charges 3.9% “commercial rent tax” on retailers including supermarkets. So for example if a supermarket pays $2 million a year in rent and property taxes, it pays the city another $78,000. Internet companies including Fresh Direct, that are clogging our streets with delivery trucks including Fedex, do not have to pay these costs. Trader Joes buys nationally so local supermarkets cannot compete on price. The plastic bag ban that goes into effect this March applies to supermarkets but not to the internet companies that use a ridiculous amount of packaging to deliver goods to apartments – 99% of Amazon boxes end up in the trash and are not reused. The supermarket therefore cannot raise prices and must absorb the loss, eventually shutting down.
It’s the end of an era.
The Shoprite I go to in Lincoln Park, NJ is fairly upscale and has much the same selections as Fairway. I’d be delighted to have the owner of that Shoprite take out the 74th St. Fairway! Most of the Shoprite, however, are not so upscale!
Trader Joe’s has too much plastic wrapped produce!
Greed & the Almighty Dollar did this. The Equity firm was only in it for themselves, & I can assure they were will walk away with a tidy sum for their execs. Sad. Not what the original owner intended.
I have no objection to ShopRite or any other large supermarket taking over Fairway’s space as long as they have good fresh meats, fish and produce.
But they cannot make the mistake Fairway’s buyers did and confuse the UWS of Manhattan with the rest of the world. Even after 35 years of gentrification and changes, it is still a unique community with different requirements and tolerances than other places. For example: tolerable to us – narrow crowded aisles with delivery people yelling “watch your back”!. Long check out lines (but only if they move fast). We’ accept things like that. Requirements – good quality take out foods, things we would be proud to have made ourselves if we had had time, like decent lasagnas ; roast chickens and grain salads. Intolerable: soggy fried chicken or shrink wrapped corn on the cob.
And here is the most important thing. Everything has to be priced so that although the quality can be perceived as “the best”; the price is also “the best”. This may sound really obvious but it isn’t. There are neighborhoods in NYC where people are comfortable with; even prefer, paying extra because they believe that means they are getting “the best”. UWS’ers, even very wealthy ones, aren’t like that. That is why they live here, and not the UES or Tribeca. Any food business up here that does not understand the UWS mentality will not do well.
Fairway’s staff is more often than not either rude, unfriendly or totally indifferent to customers. Compare that to Trader Joe’s, where the customer is treated with respect and attentiveness. Fairway deserves its business slump.
Maybe fairway is going out of business due to all the rude customers. Almost every time I’m in there I get yelled at or cursed at for doing nothing wrong. I think the 60+ crowd just loves to hate on anyone younger. I do like the selection of the store so I almost went there this weekend. Right near the store on the sidewalk a bitter older woman was already spewing obscenities as she walked in. I was just like nope nope nope not subjecting myself to this, and shopped elsewhere. This is why I usually order food on the internet.
It does seem to be so. They are mostly there during the day and do have a sense of entitlement. Fairway keeps moving things around in the store which drives them nuts. I am 70+. In the old days they used to push and shove around the store. There is more room now. But that store has always brought out the worst in people.
I will miss fairway. Trader Joe’s produce does not compare to Fairway. Fairway has so much more diversity. Would be a great loss to the neighborhood
I would not shop in shoprite
.
I completely agree with you, Lisa! What a loss it would be for the UWS to lose Fairway! great organic foods section and still tolerable prices compared to Whole Foods!
Methinks the people who are clamoring for a Shop Rite are the ones who live in rent-stablized apartments (paying a fraction of what their apartment would go for on the open market), and are desperately trying to keep their daily costs down, so they want to spend much less for food staples, which is what Shop Rite would provide. How about NO. Shop Rite is for THE SUBURBS. I would love a cool, clean, pricey market! If I want to spend less for staples, there is Associated.
To say we UWS’rs need this market is an understatement. Big developers want to transform UWS into an airline mall. Our local political class is in their pockets and as ever MIA. And obviously Sterling plan to amplify the cachet of ‘Fairway’ ridiculously and ruinously taking a simple local market PUBLIC! on NYSE and line their pockiets proved they could’nt run a lemonade stand in a heat wave, stuffed with debt. Only their roll up of IPO assets stripping part worked. Bastards. The Glickbergs cleared over $100M. If you’re reading this, Glickberg Family, Why don’t you reinvest a fraction of that w ‘little’ debt to finance and cover risk, and come back and run your old single UWS store. Otherwise we’re f’ked!
uh, why would someone who cleared 100 million bother going back to the daily grind? So Michael could have better tasting tuna salad? get over it, Fairway is done!
I can’t remember the last time a shopped for anything anywhere on the upper West Side and I “NEVER” go the the upper east side.
All in a quick 3-9 min. walking distance from me in Chelsea:
1. Fairway.
2. Trader Joes.10**********
3. West Side Market.(10% off everyday for seniors)
4. Whole Foods.
5. Gristedes.(most Expensive)
6. Ideal. 10**********
I see people saying that ShopRite is fine. I moved back to the burbs last year. I can attest the ShopRite is garbage. It is the Gristides of the suburbs. I MISS UWS FAIRWAY!!
Where did you find a photograph of Fairway without trucks blocking traffic and stock piled high on the sidewalk?
I think the UWS could use a LIDL!
how about Wegman’s?