So much for that Fairway coming to East 14th Street and Avenue A then

[EVG photo of Avenue A and East 14th Street from the other day]

In a July 2014 post about the incoming retail-residential complex along East 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B, an EVG commenter left the following:

I live directly behind demolition on 13th street. The other day I was approached by a pollster for fairway market asking me a bevy of questions about my thoughts on a new fairway on the corner of 14th and Ave A.

And we heard this rumor from another source as well: That Fairway was looking into opening a market in the East Village. (And didn't someone float the idea of a Fairway for the Stuy Town Associated space?)

In any event, it appears Fairway won't be expanding anywhere anytime soon (like they did in Kips Bay a few years back). Grub Street published an article yesterday titled "Inside the Collapse of Fairway, New York’s Favorite, Failing Grocery Store."

To some key excerpts:

The company is saddled with $267 million in debt and on the brink of bankruptcy, and its stock price, which once peaked at $28 per share, is selling for roughly 30 cents. The collapse has been swift and brutal. "Lives have been totally changed and ruined," says one former buyer for the chain. "What happened was an injustice."

And!

[A]lmost everyone agrees that a confluence of issues — including an overly aggressive and poorly executed expansion plan and rising competition in the quality-produce business — are the reasons Fairway is now in crisis. "It was a perfect storm," says a former executive for the company.

Will you shop at the incoming Kips Bay Fairway?

A little outside our usual boundaries... but maybe this might impact someone's shopping routine... Crain's (via Racked) reports that a Fairway is opening in the Second Avenue strip mall that also houses the (often pleasant) AMC Loews Kips Bay 15 ... the grocery will replace the Office Depot and Crunch Gym there at 30th Street.

Had a neighbor who'd always make a weekend morning/afternoon out of hitting either the Harlem or UWS Fairway... I recall going once and being impressed... and wishing that it was closer to home.