UWS Flagship Shoppers Have Mixed Feelings On Fairway Bankruptcy

UPPER WEST SIDE, MANHATTAN — Longtime shoppers at Fairway's flagship supermarket in the Upper West Side had mixed feelings about the news that the bankrupt company would be selling off its stores, including the Broadway corner spot that started the chain in the 1930s.

"There’s something pretty special about Fairway — so I’m really sad," said Miryam Wasserman, who has been coming to the Broadway and West 74th Street store three times a week for more than 20 years.

Wassermann — who said Fairway's cafe, fresh breads and fish market are like nowhere else — echoed the sentiment of many Upper West Siders and elected officials, who reacted to original rumors that Fairway might close all its stores this week as the "end of an era" and the loss of a Manhattan institution.

Fairway, disputing the initial rumors, ended up declaring bankruptcy Thursday and is preparing to sell at least five of its stores, including the Broadway flagship, to Shoprite's parent company, records show.

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But not all Upper West Siders mourned the potential loss of the longtime supermarket.

For many, the news of the company's financial trouble came as no surprise given what they say has already been years of waning quality of food, service and prices.

"This particular store has really gone off the quality in many ways," 40-year resident Marilyn Crookstan said. "I would like it to be what it used to be or at least some semblance of neighborhood-ish. It’s gotten so big."

Fairway started as a small fruit and veggie stand at the Upper West Side spot and has since grown to have 21 locations across the tri-state area.

Thursday's declaration was the company's second Chapter 11 filed in four years. 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.

Crookstan and other shoppers agreed, though, that despite their qualms with Fairway, what the store does offer is an all-in-one supermarket that is hard to find in the area.

Other neighborhood spots — like nearby Citarella, Westside Market or even Trader Joe's — are more of specialty stores rather than a one-stop shop, they said.

But many said the news that Shoprite will take over the market means this likely won't change much.

"We’re very fussy on the west side, [but] people will still come because we don’t have many choices," Crookstan said. "I’m not going to miss it as long as there’s another place there."

Another resident, Ed Haas, who said he's been to Shoprites in other towns, said it will be a comparable replacement. But, he said the grocery chain should be prepared for the difficulties running a store in Manhattan might bring.

"The city is a unique environment, and especially the shoppers in fairway are unique shoppers," Haas, who has lived in the Upper West Side for 32 years, said.

"Upper west siders are pretty demanding and direct in what they want, and when they want it, and they want it yesterday," he added. "Whoever takes over should be ready to deal with people who expect service and quality and selection."

For some, the store's financial trouble was just one example of the Upper West Side's growing retail struggles. The Upper West Side has long had a problem with vacant storefronts, including nearly 200 that stood empty in a count in 2017.

Other neighborhood spots that the Upper West Side has lost, like Lincoln Plaza Cinemas or small mom-and-pop restaurants, were a harder hit than losing Fairway would be Robin Shanen, who has lived in the neighborhood for 40 years, and UWS native Alan Korenberg said.

"Everything is going — so what am I going to do?" said Shanen. "[Fairway] is among them, but it's not the top."