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West Side Canvas: The Fairway Check-Out Counter

July 15, 2023 | 12:32 PM
in ART, COLUMNS, FOOD
24
Painting by Robert Beck.

Staying Out Of The Way
By Robert Beck

When I paint at an event or in a business, I have to find a location that represents the subject’s personality but keeps me out of everybody’s way. The view I choose is often based on what I remember from a previous visit  — something that stuck with me. I’ve shopped at Fairway many times, and though there are several interesting sections, the place inside the store that always says “Fairway” to me is the checkout area.

I know this flies in the face of conventional supermarket wisdom, but I like that Fairway feels like it was designed by a grocer rather than someone who specializes in Consumer Products Retail Interiors. It seems neighborhoody, not Disneyfoodmarkety. There are times when they are unloading shipments out front on the sidewalk that it looks like a newsreel from the 50s, with pedestrians, customers, and workers, negotiating that block of Broadway all at the same time. The action happens around you rather than someplace you can’t see, and that appeals to me.

The manager, Dehliah, was very accommodating. We decided that I should come Wednesday around 11 am, which typically is between rushes for them. She told me they would move the bulk displays along the front wall of the checkout area to make room for my set-up. It’s a busy, active location. I was excited.

In accordance with the Law of Best Laid Plans, the store got slammed with customers while I was there. I’m sure it had something to do with the Canadian smoke. It was that day when the sky turned amber, and it looked like we were stuck in an old beer bottle at the End of Days. It’s hard to know what to do when that happens, and it could be that after standing on the sidewalk with their phones over their heads until breathing became difficult, everybody switched to doom-weather mode and ran for milk and bread.

When the crowd showed up in Fairway, three checkout lanes quickly expanded to six. More employees appeared to keep things moving. They helped customers put stuff into bags, answered questions, got them carts and collected the ones shoppers just walked away from, all with good humor. There were times when people in front of me completely blocked my view, and I would have to move to see the counters, but I tried to keep that to a minimum. Stepping into the flow was dangerous. A few customers stopped to talk, but to most of them, I was invisible. Just some of that action happening around them. Part of the neighborhood.

Robert Beck’s West Side Canvas observes life on the Upper West Side.  His studio is on 79th Street, and you can contact him at www.robertbeck.net

You can find Robert Beck’s earlier columns and paintings here.

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24 Comments
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linda Heller
linda Heller
1 year ago

I think you captured the craziness and intensity perfectly!

12
Reply
BobA
BobA
1 year ago

I never thought seeing the Fairway checkout counters would make me happy. Thanks, Robert, for transforming the mundane into the magical. .

Last edited 1 year ago by BobA
12
Reply
Diana Omori
Diana Omori
1 year ago

We miss Fairway next to the west side Highway. It was convenient because they had a free parking lot.
and the employees were helpful and kind. Hopefully it will resume operations at that location again

4
Reply
MaryC
MaryC
1 year ago
Reply to  Diana Omori

The land was sold so that can’t happen . The parking lot was sold separately

1
Reply
Sidewalk50
Sidewalk50
1 year ago

As always, great painting, AND great writing–thanks!

6
Reply
Mary Dixon
Mary Dixon
1 year ago

Is the painting for sale?

1
Reply
Jeri Atkins
Jeri Atkins
1 year ago

It’s stories as this one that makes me miss the UWS every single day. West 66th St person

1
Reply
Ellen Bates-Brackett
Ellen Bates-Brackett
1 year ago

I love the painting and the verbal description of Fairway, including its sense of real people and real process.

5
Reply
Lynn
Lynn
1 year ago

Your wonderful painting and writeup make me feel slightly better about Fairway checkout which is one of the worst. No one pays attention. I agree that that Fairway next to the West Side Highway was much better. Fairway needs to take checkout lessons from HMart which really knows how to handle checkout and get customers in and out as quickly as possible.

1
Reply
Boris
Boris
1 year ago
Reply to  Lynn

What could Fairway possibly do to get customers in & out faster? Peak times will always be more chaotic than other times. Everyone loves to criticize without offering solutions.

4
Reply
Phoebe
Phoebe
1 year ago
Reply to  Boris

If solutions were easy, there’d be nothing to complain about!

Last edited 1 year ago by Phoebe
0
Reply
J.L. Rivers
J.L. Rivers
1 year ago

I’ve been using the free Fairway app to scan the products myself and self checkout. It is so convenient and you don’t have to stand in line to check out. If you need bags, there’s a code you scan to pay for them and you just request them at the Northern end of the registers area. In and out in less than ten minutes.

6
Reply
72RSD
72RSD
1 year ago
Reply to  J.L. Rivers

I agree, the app based checkout is wonderful. I scan my items, put them into my cart, stop for checkout with the occasional bag check and I’m on my way. It’s the checkout of the future.

2
Reply
lisa
lisa
1 year ago

While I miss the original eccentric Fairway, am grateful it still exists in at least a similar way.

Friends visiting from Europe love it as it is unique – and at this point nearly everything else in Manhattan is a generic chain….

8
Reply
Jay
Jay
1 year ago

Fairway (ShopRite) barely knows how to keep checkout lanes moving.

They’ve massively reduced the number of cashiers, some times there are no real people cashiers after 9 PM.

The only reason the lines run quickly at all is the significant decline in shoppers since ShopRite bought the name and screwed the place up so badly.

6
Reply
Boris
Boris
1 year ago
Reply to  Jay

And you know there’s a significant decline in shoppers how? I’m interested in seeing the data you’ve gathered that only a credible study would produce.

3
Reply
Agnes Frank
Agnes Frank
1 year ago
Reply to  Boris

Forget about “data”. Those of us who used to go to Fairway in its prime, remember that cashier statons were always amply staffed, lines moved fast and there was no nonsensical self-checkout.

5
Reply
72RSD
72RSD
1 year ago
Reply to  Agnes Frank

Since the 1980s two things have been consistent:

1) Checkout can be hectic at peak hours
2) People complain that Fairway isn’t what it used to be

I have my quibbles, but I think ShopRite is doing a good job.

2
Reply
Jay
Jay
1 year ago
Reply to  72RSD

True, ShopRite sort of fixed the next to disastrous self check out machines, it only took 18 months.

It’s as if ShopRite management had never personally used or installed such devices in stores.

And to its credit, after 3 years, it wrangled some prices back down to what other neighborhood stores charge.

But you can see there are significant ShopRite induced failures that have driven customers away.

1
Reply
susan
susan
1 year ago

Robert Beck’s paintings are always a surprise & a pleasure.

6
Reply
Patricia M Corsello
Patricia M Corsello
1 year ago

Artwork is interesting. A blur of color and movement.

0
Reply
Carole
Carole
1 year ago

Staying upright in the middle of all that bustle is yet one more amazing skill you have.
What’s next, waders in the Hudson?
As always a lighthearted, funny story and a delicious painting.
No need to “Stay Out of the Way” – let’s have coffee soon!
Your BIggest Fan!

0
Reply
Kiana Love
Kiana Love
1 year ago

Love this! You captured the feel of being at front of line, ready to go home already and the colorful hustle & bustle of all the little transactions & interactions happening at once..Thanks for sharing this.

1
Reply
Phoebe
Phoebe
1 year ago

This painting is AMAZING. Seriously, why aren’t you famous?

0
Reply

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