Mass Layoffs, Shutdown Possible At Stamford Fairway Market

STAMFORD, CT — Fairway Market, a grocery store on Canal Street, and its adjacent wine and spirit store could see "mass layoffs" as soon as next month if a buyer is not found for the store's Stamford locations, according to company officials.

In a letter to the state Department of Labor, Charles Farfaglia, Fairway's senior vice president of human resources, said the company had entered into an agreement with Amazon Retail LLC to purchase its Woodland Park, N.J., store.

Fairway has not found a buyer for six of the chain's other locations, including the Stamford stores, and the company said it anticipates a "plant closing" or "mass layoff" at these locations, according to the letter. (To sign up for Stamford breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

"Any 'plant closing' or 'mass layoff' that occurs at these stores are currently expected to be permanent," Farfaglia said in the letter, "as are all employment losses at these stores."

Farfaglia said the company anticipates these shutdowns to occur between June 5 and June 19 if buyers are not found. According to the labor department's website, 106 workers would be affected by the potential layoffs.

In January, company officials denied a New York Post report that the grocery chain would file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and shutter its stores.

See also: Stamford Market Denies Stores Will Close Amid Bankruptcy Reports

"Despite reports, Fairway Market has no intention to file for chapter 7 or liquidate all of its stores," a representative said in a statement.

Later that month however, Fairway indicated in a letter to the state labor department the Stamford stores could close. Farfaglia also noted in the letter that Fairway Group Holding Corp. "filed voluntary chapter 11 petitions for relief in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York" on Jan. 23.

See also: Nearly 150 Jobs Could Be Cut At Stamford Fairway Market

The company dug itself out of Chapter 11 proceedings in 2016 by borrowing money and shifting ownership from Sterling Investment Partners to a consortium led by Blackstone's GSO Capital Partners.

The iconic market has been providing New Yorkers groceries since 1933 when the Glickberg family opened a small fruit and vegetable stand on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, according to the company website. The Stamford stores are the chain's sole locations in Connecticut.

Patch has reached out to the city's economic development office for further information.