Stamford Fairway Market To Remain Open Until Buyer Is Found

STAMFORD, CT — Fairway Market recently indicated in a letter to the state Department of Labor its Stamford store and adjacent wine and spirit shop could shut down in July, however city officials said the stores will remain open until a buyer is found.

In the letter, Charles Farfaglia, Fairway's senior vice president of human resources, said the company still anticipates the Stamford stores, located on Canal Street, to shut down, something the company previously said could occur in June.

Due to delays related to "the company's efforts to wind down its operations," Fairway now expects plant closings and layoffs at the Stamford store to occur between July 3 and 17, Farfaglia said in the letter. (To sign up for Stamford breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

According to Stamford Economic Development Director Thomas Madden, the store will not be shutting down despite the company sending out a WARN notice to the department. Madden said the company will keep extending the deadline for when a shutdown is expected until a buyer is found for the Stamford stores.

"These stores have not sold yet, so those WARN notices have to keep going," Madden said to Patch. "Ideally they are not shutting the store down, because why would you shut a store down as you're trying to sell it? Then it is too hard for [a buyer] to come in and restart the store back up again."

Madden said the company will continue extending the timeline for an expected shutdown and layoffs until a buyer is found.

"We're working with several people," Madden said. "We've talked to them about potential people taking over the store."

A timeline for selling the store has not been finalized yet, Madden said.

The company previously sent a letter to the department in May indicating the Stamford stores could shut down and see "mass layoffs" between June 5 and 19 if a buyer was not be found for the location.

See also: Mass Layoffs, Shutdown Possible At Stamford Fairway Market

"Any plant closings that occur at the Stamford stores are currently expected to be permanent, as are all employment losses at the store," Farfaglia said in the most recent letter.

According to the labor department's website, 136 workers would be affected by the expected 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.