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Report: Fairway Market readies another Chapter 11 filing

Metro N.Y. chain had emerged from bankruptcy protection in 2016

Russell Redman

January 6, 2020

2 Min Read
Fairway_Market-store_banner.png
According to published reports, Fairway is preparing to seek bankruptcy protection this month after unsuccessful efforts to land a buyer for its 14 stores.Fairway Market

Upscale metropolitan New York grocer Fairway Market reportedly plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time in three-and-a-half years.

According to unnamed sources cited by the New York Post, Fairway is preparing to seek bankruptcy protection this month after unsuccessful efforts to land a buyer for its 14 stores.

One source told the Post that the move might end up becoming a liquidation instead of a reorganization, based on information that the supermarket chain’s flagship store on Broadway and West 74th Street in Manhattan is on the selling block and has been shown to competitors, such as ShopRite.

New York City-based Fairway couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

In May 2016, parent company Fairway Group Holdings made a "prepackaged" Chapter 11 filing in which lenders agreed to exchange existing debt for new equity and debt in a reorganized company. The retailer emerged from Chapter 11 in June 2016. That came after Fairway couldn’t overcome heavy debt and high costs that persisted following an initial public offering in 2013, in which the company envisioned an aggressive expansion to potentially hundreds of stores.

Retail grocery veteran Abel Porter was named president and CEO of Fairway in early 2017, taking over from Jack Murphy, in a bid to turn the chain around. Though Porter brought some financial improvements, ongoing liquidity and capital constraints made it difficult for Fairway to compete.

Related:Wegmans, Fairway lead off Impossible Burger’s East Coast launch

The Post reported that Fairway, now owned by lead shareholders Brigade Capital Management and Goldman Sachs Group, is “quietly closing” stores. Most recently, the chain shut a 65,000-square-foot location in Nanuet, N.Y., in September, and stores in Paramus and Woodland Park, N.J., may be next in line for closure, sources told the Post. Fairway’s suburban locations, accounting for about half of its store base, have struggled the most, according to the Post.

Currently, Fairway operates eight stores in New York City (five in Manhattan, two in Brooklyn and one in Queens); two in Long Island, N.Y.; one in New York’s Westchester County; two in New Jersey; and one in Connecticut.

 

 

About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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