Fairway Market Closing 1 Of Its NJ Stores

WOODLAND PARK, NJ – Fairway Market will be shutting its Woodland Park store early next month, according to a report.

NJ Advance Media reported that the grocery store will be closed around April 1 as part of the 83-year-old company’s deal to sell up to 14 of its locations and distribution center to Village Super Market.

News of the closure comes about a month after the New York-based chain filed for bankruptcy. According to a report from Crain's New York Business, in a notice to the New York State Labor Department the company said it could be forced to lay off up to 2,159 workers due to economic reasons.

Read More: Fairway Market Denies Closings Amid Bankruptcy Reports

Rumors that Fairway would close its stores have been circulating for weeks since the New York Post first reported Fairway was considering bankruptcy after failing to find a buyer last year.

Fairway Market began nearly 100 years ago as a small produce stand on Manhattan's Upper West Side and has since grown to a 14-store network. There are eight stores in New York City, two on Long Island, one in Westchester County, NY, two in New Jersey and one in Connecticut.

The founders of the business, the Glickberg family, ran the store for four generations before selling it to private equity.

At one point, Fairway's owners planned to open as many as 300 stores nationwide. The expansion plan was enacted when a majority of the company was acquired by private equity firm Sterling Investment, which later took the company public.

This isn't Fairway's first brush with bankruptcy. The company was able to dig itself out of Chapter 11 proceedings in 2016 by borrowing money in exchange for equity. The reorganization shifted ownership of Fairway from Sterling Investment Partners to a consortium led by Blackstone's GSO Capital Partners.

Within New Jersey, Fairway has two stores – Paramus and Woodland Park.

Patch editors Kathleen Culliton and Brenden Krisel contributed to this report.