Fairway Market

Our humble beginnings as a small, corner, fruit & veggie stand on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, is still at the heart of our business. Since the 1930’s, when our doors first opened, Fairway Market has been committed to bringing our customers excellent values, wide varieties, and the freshest foods.

In 1954, founder Nathan Glickberg and his son Leo partnered to grow the business with a fuller selection of grocery staples. At Leo’s wife’s suggestion, the store was named Fairway, after a business her father used to own. They called it a “lucky name.” The new storefront, from the combined efforts of the father-son team, created the beginning of what is now our flagship store on Broadway & W. 74th Street.

In 1974, Leo passed the torch to his son. Howie inherited sawdust-covered wooden floors, item racks supported by milk crates, and a square footage that only had space for one register. The potential was glorious. Over the next 30 years, Howie and his two partners would grow Fairway into a small chain of stores across the New York tri-state area. Adding a greater variety of items and small-batch products, quickly made Fairway “ Like No Other Market.”

The neighborhood truly embraced the unique food experience Fairway offered. Food-lovers traveled across town to shop with us, and soon the vision of expansion was realized. The partners brought in specialty imports and started hiring a crew of ambitious, hardworking foodies who would one day become Fairway’s experts and department heads. The flagship store took over the space next door, and by the mid-1980’s talk of Fairway Market was reaching a fever pitch all over town and beyond. We were always first to offer unique, different, imported, things-you-didn’t-know-existed foodstuffs. Our great values captured lots of attention and the new-and-improved product offering earned a newfound respect.

Today, it’s hard to envision the slender store that we once were. We have stores across Manhattan – All offering the historical character and principles of our first: high-quality fresh foods; a wide variety of unique selections; treasured relationships with small vendors and farmers; and exclusive new products.

We encourage all of our customers, current and future, to explore the world of food with enthusiasm and an open mind. Start by taking in the aromas and tastes of the finest foods at Fairway Market.