Where else will the store management relay a message from your wife over the loudspeaker?
An announcement, typically directing the staff to spills and check verifications, boomed over the store’s loudspeaker: “Attention customer Solomon. Your wife just called. She said, ‘Please remember to buy oven cleaner.’”
Here’s to hoping the store keeps its charm even as the pressure from Wall Street mounts.
Where else will the store management relay a message from your wife over the loudspeaker?
An announcement, typically directing the staff to spills and check verifications, boomed over the store’s loudspeaker: “Attention customer Solomon. Your wife just called. She said, ‘Please remember to buy oven cleaner.’”
Here’s to hoping the store keeps its charm even as the pressure from Wall Street mounts.
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Nice prank, but Solomon is the floor manager. (Look for the big, friendly guy.)
I’m not impressed that you know whom Solomon is at Fairway.
Woody haha!!!! “I’m not impressed you know Solomon etx”. Haha! I agree so funny how u wrote that though!!
I am! You go, Fairway Regular!
Fairway? Charm? What charm?
Old school charm…new school prices (except for milk).
The UWS’s ORIGINAL Fairway is the GREATEST, for many reasons, including:
1. Its huge selection of the familiar and unfamiliar; in fact, if Fairway doesn’t have it, it probably doesn’t exist;
2. Its great 2nd-floor organics section;
3. Its cool 2nd-floor restaurant;
4. Its wonderful old-fashioned open-air fruit-and-vegetable stands;
5. and, finally, its scrum of cranky, pushy UWS shoppers navigating its ancient narrow aisles. In fact, “our” Fairway should be a test for any newbie considering re-locating to Manahatta. If one can handle Fairway at around 6:00 p.m. on any weekday one MIGHT be able to make it in Gotham….maybe!
They don’t carry Rice-a-Roni, and it definitely exists.
Since going public prices at Fairway have gone way up, quality and availability of produce has gone down, (regularly out of “exotic” items such as scallions!) and staff on the floor, if you can find them, are surly at worst, disinterested at best. Some of the veteran checkout ladies are still pleasant. Fairway really has declined.
So true. And as far as what’s on the floor goes – so’s their stock price. Bad IPO.
For the last 16 years I’ve shopped 6 days a week at Pioneer and once in a blue moon when I need something on Sunday I go to Fairway. I notice when I get home their veggies, fruits and meats are not any better than Pioneer, although everyone swears by Fairway and curses Pioneer. So doesn’t surprise me their stock is going to zero. I’m very happy staying with the Pioneer.
I disagree. Pioneer’s produce section is mediocre to bad. I don’t understand the complaints about Fairway’s produce quality going downhill, I’m just as happy with their produce as I ever was, been shopping there for 20+ years. And I’m a cooking-obsessed foodie.
I also haven’t seen prices rising any faster than anywhere else in NY.
Fairway IMO is still the gold standard. Nothing comes close – not Whole Foods, not Gourmet Garage, none of the “food boutiques” on the UES… and the original UWS Fairway is still the best!
And I really appreciate that they are constantly tinkering with the layout to make things easier. And they added a new elevator!
And their cafe is awesome.
Haters gonna hate!
pioneer is the greatest! same three managers for the past 30, maybe 40 years, though one seems to be missing. don’t know the story yet.
Fairway’s stock was at $26 two years ago.
Today it’s at 68 cents.
Ouch!
Feh. For me, Fairway lost its charm when its awnings went from blue to green.
Fairway is like no other market.
The Fairway business model has become to price gouge its customers. This is a recipe for failure. The prices are off the charts and they raise them every day. The store is way less crowded than in the old days because the customers are sick and tired of their price gouging.
I prefer the announcement I heard at Zabar’s the day after Easter.
“I have a 5 pound Perugia chocolate egg. Take it home today! All reasonable offers considered”
Meh, you think personalized overhead announcements make for old-school charm, you should come to the Park Slope Food Co-Op!
Fairway uptown (125th) is great on alternate parking days! Leave a bit earlier, park for free in their lot. Load up for the week and still get home in time to get a prime parking place! And their chicken pot pie is to die for if you Prefer dark meat!
Hey, you just gave away one of the UWS best secrets.
I think that was just one comedic employee. The “charm” went out of play about one IPO and 12 hedge fund management companies ago. There is nothing “charming” about Fairway….
Fairway is almost done we hope. They went public and that was the end. They removed their kitchen, fired cashiers to make a more crowded appearance, stopped making decent food…everything is soggy, stopped carrying decent rolls, raised all their prices and on and on. We need a real supermarket like Morton Williams. No chaos, no rudeness. Has anyone else noticed how stupidly the hot food bar was built? A U shaped food bar?? Impossible. I won’t go in there..it’s just too awful.
Sorry to say I agree! Their prepared food which was always very good is beyond mediocre now. I have used their catering department for years, and was very disappointed this year with the quality and appearance. Fairway has lost their way and doubtful it will get it back. Losing Mitchell London was the first mistake. And all prior management the second. I bought some coleslaw on the weekend and not only did it taste like nothing, the kitchen apparently doesn’t even know how to use the food processor!! The cabbage was barely shredded. Chicken parmigiana had the crunch of an apple after being heated!! I’m not even sure how one achieves that feat!!! This is all inexcusable for a major food store in NY. I am going there less and less and may simply avoid on principle. Unless they get their act together, that will be one more ruined brand.
When Fairway goes it won’t be replaced by a better grocery store. Fund Managers don’t need grocery stores, they have people for that and when they lose money, taxpayers bail the out.
Have to agree. Ever since the IPO Fairway has gone way down hill. It was the greatest until then. Now they switch where everything is once a week and no there knows where its been moved. Prices constantly go up. They only offer cheaper produce outside so you have to go in and out comparing prices. They used to take requests for products and then stock them. I have requested peach seltzer 3 times (they used to carry) and they still don’t have it. And now they have made the counters on the express line so small there’s not even room to put down your purchases. Maybe if you go back to your old way of doing things your stock will rise once again!
UWsiderforever—-totally agree with everything you said. What can we do? I email them constantly-they have to know there are big problems. Apparently this is their first venture into food services. My bet is there will be new ownership again. I still remmeber Eddie and Al -when there was some courtesy and class. And how about those cheap plastic bags, And ridiculous wasteful silver containers. Time to enter the new world and go for microwavable containers with snap on lids. Would improve waiting time at the deli that’s for sure. Oh well….and so it goes.
Lol. Gotta love that!
Go to the deli fish counter and buy some smoked sable or whitefish. Dry. Overly salty. Hard. Getting stale. Nearly tasteless. And it’s always like that, never fresh. Go to Zabar’s for succulent, moist, tasty, properly salted, fresh smoked fish. I suspect Zabar’s sells their aging product to Fairway.
Fairway started losing its charm when it stopped putting up those funky, hand-written signs among the fruits and vegetables. Giving credit where it’s due, Fairway makes an effort to serve the kosher consumer, especially in the bakery department. Not the greatest stuff, but better than having to travel to (excuse the expression) Brooklyn. And I know where the disappearing polar ice has gone: it encrusts all the ice cream! What’s up with that? Can’t they put in some freezers that deal with the humidity?
I agree Fairway has gone down in quality and up in prices. I stopped getting prepared foods ages ago.
But I still shop there. Just not as much. (My husband won’t go in anymore)
What I won’t do anymore is eat in the restaurant. It cost me $20 something for a salad and a soda. And I’m hungry when I leave.
My friends love it there- so I make a point of eating lunch BEFORE I go to the café
Since Fairway was sold, the produce has become mediocre. For example, grapes and citrus turn rotten in a few days instead of a week. Produce quality used to be A. It is now in the C catagory.
Soups are now only sold in large containers, freshly sqeezed orange juice isn’t fresh. I have complained to floor managers, but nothing has gotten better.
Trader Joe’s has better fresher produce and is much much cheaper and the checkouts move very quickly.
Fairway, when it first opened years ago, was a west side miracle. Now, it has become a nightmare. Fruits and vegetables wilted and rotten.bakery, disgusting, and people stand for their second rate own brand. Even Pearl’s is gone from there. I shop at Pioneer and West Side Market. Only go into Fairway in an emergency. I get better produce, and shop Citarella for fish and meat. The fish department at Fairway is shameful. Dirty. We need a really good market to open where Loehmann’s was. Two floors. Fairway, makes me need to have other choices. Feh.
West side rag will not publish a comment I have made as they said I already said that. Leads me to believe things here are edited and untrue.
Your statement was published, nothing was edited. Don’t jump to conclusions when a comment isn’t immediately published on a moderated website. WSR
West side rag , whom I look forward to each week, will not publish my statement.
Fairway is the pits. Now publish that.
Nice prank, but Solomon is the floor manager. (Look for the big, friendly guy.)
I’m not impressed that you know whom Solomon is at Fairway.
Woody haha!!!! “I’m not impressed you know Solomon etx”. Haha! I agree so funny how u wrote that though!!
I am! You go, Fairway Regular!
Fairway? Charm? What charm?
Old school charm…new school prices (except for milk).
The UWS’s ORIGINAL Fairway is the GREATEST, for many reasons, including:
1. Its huge selection of the familiar and unfamiliar; in fact, if Fairway doesn’t have it, it probably doesn’t exist;
2. Its great 2nd-floor organics section;
3. Its cool 2nd-floor restaurant;
4. Its wonderful old-fashioned open-air fruit-and-vegetable stands;
5. and, finally, its scrum of cranky, pushy UWS shoppers navigating its ancient narrow aisles. In fact, “our” Fairway should be a test for any newbie considering re-locating to Manahatta. If one can handle Fairway at around 6:00 p.m. on any weekday one MIGHT be able to make it in Gotham….maybe!
They don’t carry Rice-a-Roni, and it definitely exists.
Since going public prices at Fairway have gone way up, quality and availability of produce has gone down, (regularly out of “exotic” items such as scallions!) and staff on the floor, if you can find them, are surly at worst, disinterested at best. Some of the veteran checkout ladies are still pleasant. Fairway really has declined.
So true. And as far as what’s on the floor goes – so’s their stock price. Bad IPO.
For the last 16 years I’ve shopped 6 days a week at Pioneer and once in a blue moon when I need something on Sunday I go to Fairway. I notice when I get home their veggies, fruits and meats are not any better than Pioneer, although everyone swears by Fairway and curses Pioneer. So doesn’t surprise me their stock is going to zero. I’m very happy staying with the Pioneer.
I disagree. Pioneer’s produce section is mediocre to bad. I don’t understand the complaints about Fairway’s produce quality going downhill, I’m just as happy with their produce as I ever was, been shopping there for 20+ years. And I’m a cooking-obsessed foodie.
I also haven’t seen prices rising any faster than anywhere else in NY.
Fairway IMO is still the gold standard. Nothing comes close – not Whole Foods, not Gourmet Garage, none of the “food boutiques” on the UES… and the original UWS Fairway is still the best!
And I really appreciate that they are constantly tinkering with the layout to make things easier. And they added a new elevator!
And their cafe is awesome.
Haters gonna hate!
pioneer is the greatest! same three managers for the past 30, maybe 40 years, though one seems to be missing. don’t know the story yet.
Fairway’s stock was at $26 two years ago.
Today it’s at 68 cents.
Ouch!
Feh. For me, Fairway lost its charm when its awnings went from blue to green.
Fairway is like no other market.
The Fairway business model has become to price gouge its customers. This is a recipe for failure. The prices are off the charts and they raise them every day. The store is way less crowded than in the old days because the customers are sick and tired of their price gouging.
I prefer the announcement I heard at Zabar’s the day after Easter.
“I have a 5 pound Perugia chocolate egg. Take it home today! All reasonable offers considered”
Meh, you think personalized overhead announcements make for old-school charm, you should come to the Park Slope Food Co-Op!
Fairway uptown (125th) is great on alternate parking days! Leave a bit earlier, park for free in their lot. Load up for the week and still get home in time to get a prime parking place! And their chicken pot pie is to die for if you Prefer dark meat!
Hey, you just gave away one of the UWS best secrets.
I think that was just one comedic employee. The “charm” went out of play about one IPO and 12 hedge fund management companies ago. There is nothing “charming” about Fairway….
Fairway is almost done we hope. They went public and that was the end. They removed their kitchen, fired cashiers to make a more crowded appearance, stopped making decent food…everything is soggy, stopped carrying decent rolls, raised all their prices and on and on. We need a real supermarket like Morton Williams. No chaos, no rudeness. Has anyone else noticed how stupidly the hot food bar was built? A U shaped food bar?? Impossible. I won’t go in there..it’s just too awful.
Sorry to say I agree! Their prepared food which was always very good is beyond mediocre now. I have used their catering department for years, and was very disappointed this year with the quality and appearance. Fairway has lost their way and doubtful it will get it back. Losing Mitchell London was the first mistake. And all prior management the second. I bought some coleslaw on the weekend and not only did it taste like nothing, the kitchen apparently doesn’t even know how to use the food processor!! The cabbage was barely shredded. Chicken parmigiana had the crunch of an apple after being heated!! I’m not even sure how one achieves that feat!!! This is all inexcusable for a major food store in NY. I am going there less and less and may simply avoid on principle. Unless they get their act together, that will be one more ruined brand.
When Fairway goes it won’t be replaced by a better grocery store. Fund Managers don’t need grocery stores, they have people for that and when they lose money, taxpayers bail the out.
Have to agree. Ever since the IPO Fairway has gone way down hill. It was the greatest until then. Now they switch where everything is once a week and no there knows where its been moved. Prices constantly go up. They only offer cheaper produce outside so you have to go in and out comparing prices. They used to take requests for products and then stock them. I have requested peach seltzer 3 times (they used to carry) and they still don’t have it. And now they have made the counters on the express line so small there’s not even room to put down your purchases. Maybe if you go back to your old way of doing things your stock will rise once again!
UWsiderforever—-totally agree with everything you said. What can we do? I email them constantly-they have to know there are big problems. Apparently this is their first venture into food services. My bet is there will be new ownership again. I still remmeber Eddie and Al -when there was some courtesy and class. And how about those cheap plastic bags, And ridiculous wasteful silver containers. Time to enter the new world and go for microwavable containers with snap on lids. Would improve waiting time at the deli that’s for sure. Oh well….and so it goes.
Lol. Gotta love that!
Go to the deli fish counter and buy some smoked sable or whitefish. Dry. Overly salty. Hard. Getting stale. Nearly tasteless. And it’s always like that, never fresh. Go to Zabar’s for succulent, moist, tasty, properly salted, fresh smoked fish. I suspect Zabar’s sells their aging product to Fairway.
Fairway started losing its charm when it stopped putting up those funky, hand-written signs among the fruits and vegetables. Giving credit where it’s due, Fairway makes an effort to serve the kosher consumer, especially in the bakery department. Not the greatest stuff, but better than having to travel to (excuse the expression) Brooklyn. And I know where the disappearing polar ice has gone: it encrusts all the ice cream! What’s up with that? Can’t they put in some freezers that deal with the humidity?
I agree Fairway has gone down in quality and up in prices. I stopped getting prepared foods ages ago.
But I still shop there. Just not as much. (My husband won’t go in anymore)
What I won’t do anymore is eat in the restaurant. It cost me $20 something for a salad and a soda. And I’m hungry when I leave.
My friends love it there- so I make a point of eating lunch BEFORE I go to the café
Since Fairway was sold, the produce has become mediocre. For example, grapes and citrus turn rotten in a few days instead of a week. Produce quality used to be A. It is now in the C catagory.
Soups are now only sold in large containers, freshly sqeezed orange juice isn’t fresh. I have complained to floor managers, but nothing has gotten better.
Trader Joe’s has better fresher produce and is much much cheaper and the checkouts move very quickly.
Fairway, when it first opened years ago, was a west side miracle. Now, it has become a nightmare. Fruits and vegetables wilted and rotten.bakery, disgusting, and people stand for their second rate own brand. Even Pearl’s is gone from there. I shop at Pioneer and West Side Market. Only go into Fairway in an emergency. I get better produce, and shop Citarella for fish and meat. The fish department at Fairway is shameful. Dirty. We need a really good market to open where Loehmann’s was. Two floors. Fairway, makes me need to have other choices. Feh.
West side rag will not publish a comment I have made as they said I already said that. Leads me to believe things here are edited and untrue.
Your statement was published, nothing was edited. Don’t jump to conclusions when a comment isn’t immediately published on a moderated website. WSR
West side rag , whom I look forward to each week, will not publish my statement.
Fairway is the pits. Now publish that.