The end is near for bankrupt Fairway Group Holdings as the “like no other market” retailer has announced that it has sold two stores and plans to close its remaining four supermarkets.
At a U. S. Bankruptcy Court auction held late in the day on July 27, Bogopa Service Corporation was deemed the winner in its bid to acquire two Fairway Markets in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn and in Douglaston, Queens for $2.43 million. The stores will trade as Food Bazaars, bringing the number of Food Bazaars in the Metro New York market to 28. The Brooklyn-based regional chain will also assume Fairway’s existing union contract. Additionally, Bogopa will enter into a new lease agreement with the landlord at the Red Hook site, the O’Connell Organization.
Bogopa’s bid was recognized by the Bankruptcy Court as being to superior to another late offer submitted by brothers Paul and Pat (Pasquale) Conte (dba Seven Seas LLC), a Key Food member who operate eight stores in Manhattan and Brooklyn, including the former Fairway unit on Ralph Avenue in Brooklyn which it acquired from the Manhattan-based beleaguered retailer at the first auction which was held on March 25. That store now trades as a Food Way supermarket.
“These two new Food Bazaar locations will continue to provide the Douglaston and Red Hook communities with the highest quality and variety of perishables, groceries and other unique food offerings that our shoppers have come to expect. We are pleased to pass the baton to Food Bazaar, knowing they will welcome our employees to the Bogopa family and will deliver a world-class shopping experience for their customers,” said Fairway CEO Abel Porter in a statement.
Bogopa was no stranger to the Fairway bidding/auction process, either. After Fairway filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on January 22, 2020, Bogopa made an aggressive late play on March 12 to acquire Fairway’s five units in Manhattan, its store in Pelham Manor, NY, and the company’s production and distribution center (PDC) in the Bronx for $75 million.
At the auction held on March 25, Bogopa was assigned “back-up bidder” status after “stalking horse” bidder Village ShopRite “won” the auction, agreeing to pay $76.2 million for what ended up being four Manhattan sites (the Harlem store was not part of that deal but the adjacent parking lot was), the Pelham Manor location and the PDC.
Also at the original auction in late March, Amazon acquired the leases for Fairway’s two New Jersey stores – in Paramus and Woodland Park – for $1.5 million. Those two units are expected to reopen early next year as conventional grocery stores under Amazon’s yet unnamed new supermarket format.
As for Fairway’s other four stores – Stamford, CT; Harlem, NY; Plainview, NY; and Westbury, NY – only the latter store remains open and is expected to close next month.
The acquisition of the Red Hook and Douglaston stores along with the subsequent store closings will essentially end the once great legacy of Fairway Market which was founded by the Glickberg family in 1933.
Despite its once iconic image, Fairway Market will soon be a memory. Its 14 stores (at the time of its bankruptcy filing) will have sold for less than $86 million.