Amazon snags two Fairway Market stores in NJ

Amazon has acquired the leases for two Fairway Market stores in New Jersey, half the number of stores the company originally hoped to buy. According to Supermarket News, the online retailer will acquire Fairway’s Paramus and Woodland Park, N.J. store leases for $1.5 million. It’s unclear why Amazon’s offer for stores in Red Hook and Westchester fell through. The auction comes just a few months after the beloved New York City grocery store filed for bankruptcy.

As a result of a court-supervised auction, Village Super Market will pay $76 million for Fairway’s stores in Chelsea, Kips Bay, the Upper East Side, Upper West Side, the parking lot of its Harlem store, the Pelham Manor store, and its distribution center in the Bronx. Key Food acquired the store’s Georgetown store in Brooklyn for $5 million.

In January, Fairway filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the second time the company had done so in four years. “We are pleased with the outcome of the auction and are grateful for our dedicated and hard-working employees, suppliers and distributors during this process, which has taken place in these unprecedented times,” Abel Porter, CEO of Fairway Market, said in a statement to Supermarket News.

“Serving our community has always been our top priority and we remain committed to providing quality items and a safe shopping environment for our customers and our employees during this global health crisis.”

Amazon was expected to win the auction, as the Post reported last week. “Amazon has deep pockets,” a source told the newspaper. “It’s like pocket change for them. If they want something they probably won’t be outbid.”

[Via NY Post]

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Editor’s note: A version of this post was originally published on March 20, 2020 and has since been updated.