BY KEVIN DUGGAN
The proprietor of a wellliked
grocery chain operating
supermarkets in Red Hook and
Georgetown denied reports
that it would fi le for bankruptcy
and shutter its stores
following wide-spread reports
of its impending demise.
“Despite reports, Fairway
Market has no intention to
fi le for chapter 7 or liquidate
all of its stores. Such statements
are categorically untrue
and disappointing,” the
company said in a statement
on Wednesday. “All 14 stores
remain open for business, offering
a complete range of
high quality, specialty food
products, and we look forward
to seeing our customers
and employees.”
The gourmet grocery emporium
reportedly had plans
to fi le for bankruptcy protection
on Wednesday and close
its stores — including its two
Kings County outposts on
the Red Hook waterfront and
at the Georgetown Shopping
Center in Bergen Beach — according
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to a New York Post
story from Tuesday.
A company spokeswoman
denied those reports, however,
saying that the grocer
is engaged in talks for a possible
fi nancial transaction
that would keep some stores
open — but she declined to
elaborate whether that would
entail the sale of any Fairway
branches.
“Fairway has been engaged
in a strategic process
and expects to soon announce
a value maximizing transaction
that will provide for the
ongoing operations of stores,”
the spokeswoman said. “Our
lenders remain extremely supportive
Reps for Fairway Market denied reports they plan to fi le for bankruptcy and shutter stores on Jan. 22.
Photo by Max Jaeger
of our efforts.”
The company owes a whopping
$174 million in debts —
including expensive leases,
which has scared away potential
buyers since its owners put
it up for sale in September.
New Jersey-based Village
Super Market — the owner of
ShopRite — is reportedly interested
in buying some Fairway
stores and maybe the
Fairway name.
Fairway previously fi led
for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in
2016, but reemerged under its
current ownership by investment
fi rms Brigade Capital
Management and Goldman
Sachs Group — while also
closing one of its stores on
Long Island.
The chain, which began
in 1933 as a Manhattan fruit
and vegetable stand, opened
its fi rst Brooklyn store inside
a 19th-century storage
warehouse on Red Hook’s Van
Brunt Street in 2006 — which
it had to shut down temporarily
after the ancient waterfront
building took a beating
during Superstorm Sandy in
2012, before reopening the following
year.
The company later opened
its second Brooklyn location
at the Ralph Avenue strip mall
in 2017.
No way!
Fairway denies reports of
bankruptcy, store closures
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