Fairway Grocery Chain Files for Bankruptcy

By SIMONE WILSON (Patch Staff)

The half-century-old Fairway gourmet grocery chain, which began as a small produce stand on Manhattan's Upper West Side and has since grown to a 15-store network in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, announced Tuesday that it had filed for bankruptcy.

The chain has a location on Canal Street in Stamford.

Fairway and its senior investors have agreed upon a financial reorganization plan that will "eliminate approximately $140 million of senior secured debt and provide financing to restructure the Company’s balance sheet," the chain said in a news release.

Fairway has been hinting for months that its ambitious expansion over the past decade may have been premature.

"The grocery store chain has been a destination for gourmands in New York for decades," the New York Timeswrote Tuesday, "but it has faced increasing pressure in recent years from fresh-food rivals, like Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe’s."

Fairway has assured its customers that stock and service at its 15 locations will not be interrupted by the financial restructuring process.

The company's CEO, Jack Murphy, was doing major damage control Tuesday. “Over 80 years ago, Fairway started as a fresh fruit and veggie stand at the corner of 74th & Broadway. It grew into the greatest food store in the country," he said in a statement posted to the Fairway website. "Fairway is famous for apples stacked to the ceiling, olives straight from Italy, New York style bagels, hand sliced smoked salmon, prime beef and specialty imports. Nobody slices a fish or boils a bagel like us. Nobody.”

Fairway's location in Red Hook. Photo by Jules Antonio