Fairway Market

Fairway Market

Company type	Private
Industry	Grocery retail
Founded	1933 (1933)
Founder	Nathan Glickberg
Headquarters	Keasbey, New Jersey , United States
Area served	New York metropolitan area
Products	Groceries, including wine and spirits
Owner	Wakefern Food Corporation
Parent	Village Supermarkets (since 2020)

Fairway Market is a grocery retail chain in the United States, established in 1933 by businessman Nathan Glickberg. Headquartered in Keasbey, New Jersey, the company primarily serves the New York metropolitan region. It is under the ownership of Wakefern Food Corporation, a prominent supermarket cooperative recognized for ShopRite. As of 2020, Fairway operates four locations, including its main store situated at Broadway and West 74th Street on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

Sale to private equity

In January 2007, Sterling Investment Partners, a private equity firm based in Westport, Connecticut, acquired a majority interest in Fairway Market. Sterling committed $150 million to support the chain’s expansion efforts throughout the Greater New York area, aiming to increase market penetration and business growth. By 2011, Fairway achieved revenues totaling $550 million.

On April 17, 2013, the company launched an initial public offering (IPO), trading as Fairway Group Holdings Corp. on NASDAQ under the symbol "FWM," marking a key advancement in its financial development and visibility in public markets.

History

Fairway Market originated as a produce store located on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and had grown by 1997 to include a café that later transformed into a steakhouse during evening hours. By 2011, the brand expanded with new locations on Manhattan’s Upper East Side and in Douglaston, Queens, followed by additional outlets in Woodland Park, New Jersey, Westbury, New York, and Kips Bay, Manhattan by 2012. Further growth continued with stores opening in Chelsea and Nanuet, New York by 2013.

By 2020, many Fairway stores had been shuttered or sold to other retailers such as Amazon. Notable locations include:

• 1930s: The flagship store launched on Broadway in the Upper West Side.
• 1995: Harlem location expanded to feature a distinctive "Cold Room" for meats and seafood; closed in July 2020 following bankruptcy.
• 2001: First store beyond NYC opened in Plainview on Long Island.
• 2006: Red Hook store in Brooklyn opened; sold in 2020 to Bogopa Service Corporation and reopened as Food Bazaar.
• 2009: Paramus, New Jersey store debuted—the first west of the Hudson River; closed in 2020 and replaced by Amazon Fresh.
• 2010: Pelham Manor store opened in Westchester County including Fairway’s initial Wine and Spirit department; Stamford, Connecticut location became the largest store.
• 2011: Additional sites launched on the Upper East Side and Douglaston; Douglaston store sold to Bogopa in 2020.
• 2012: Woodland Park location opened (closed April 2020), succeeded by Amazon Fresh; Westbury store opened (later replaced by Food Bazaar); Kips Bay store initiated operations.
• 2013: Chelsea store commenced business; Nanuet outlet opened but closed in 2019 and was replaced by Stop & Shop.
• 2014: Lake Grove Long Island store launched but ceased operations after two years.
• 2017: Georgetown Brooklyn location opened; sold to Key Food for $5 million in 2020.

In 2023, Fairway collaborated with Instacart to introduce Fairway Now, a delivery service covering three Manhattan stores. In 2024, Village Supermarkets—Fairway’s parent company since 2020—opened a new store in Old Bridge, New Jersey featuring departments inspired by Fairway’s New York branding.

This timeline illustrates Fairway Market’s adaptive business strategy emphasizing targeted expansion into urban and suburban areas, a broadening of product categories including alcoholic beverages, and strategic partnerships and ownership changes to sustain its position within the grocery sector.