Fairway Claims It’s Doing Just Fine Despite Report of Impending Bankruptcy

Fairway Claims Its Doing Just Fine Despite Report of Impending Bankruptcy

The Post published a staggering report last night that beloved local grocery store Fairway would be filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, effectively closing all 14 of its tri-state locations unless a buyer comes forward. The report left many New Yorkers in shock, with some turning to Twitter to share memories of growing up near, or living by, one of the city’s longest-standing grocery store chains. But now, after hours of online turmoil, Fairway claims it may not be closing at all. Following the Post’s report, the company announced via Twitter that it has no intention to file for bankruptcy or close all of its stores.

Still, Fairway’s finances haven’t been on solid footing recently. In 2016, the grocery store chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after losing money in every quarter since private equity firm and majority owner Sterling Investment took the company public in 2013. According to the Post, Village Super Market, which owns the suburban supermarket chain ShopRite, has voiced interest in acquiring some of the Fairway locations, should it file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. However, in order to do so, Village Super Market would inherit the $174 million in debt that Fairway has accumulated over the last decade.

In other news

— Jenny Han, author of the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before series, is joining the next Eater Book Club. On February 18, Han will discuss food, baking, and stories in a talk moderated by Eater’s Sonia Chopra. $30 admission includes snacks and drinks inspired by the books and movies.

— John Poiarkoff, formerly of two-Michelin starred restaurant the Modern, will take over as executive chef of Marta, Caffe Marchio, and Vini e Fritti in New York’s Redbury Hotel.

— Humboldt & Jackson, Nom Wah Tea Parlor, and Emily’s Pork Store are ringing in the Year of the Rat with a Lunar New Year brunch and karaoke party on January 25. The $20.20 admission includes an “all you can eat experience” and a cocktail.

— Fast-casual chicken restaurant Fields Good Chicken will be celebrating the opening of its fifth location with free samples and all-day prizes at 599 Lexington Avenue. The growing restaurant chain has a sixth location planned for 24 E. 12th Street later this year.

— Chef legend Alfred Portale’s contemporary Italian restaurant Portale now does lunch. The restaurant will also begin brunch service this weekend, including a $15 kids menu with homemade lollipops.

— Masti Indian Grill & Chaat Bar, an Indian restaurant inspired by the Famous Curry Bazaar in London, opens today at 184 Havemeyer Street in Williamsburg.

— Of all the things Pete Wells critiques in the New York dining world, noise apparently isn’t one of them. If his 2,000-word take in the Times rubs you the wrong way, here’s our map of the best places to grab a quiet meal in the city.

— A Brooklyn resident named Floyd Hayes has registered a lightly hopped session IPA as an emotional support animal, in the hopes that doing so will allow him to drink on public transit. The support beer helps the Clinton Hill resident manage his “social anxiety disorder,” the Brooklyn Paper reports.

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