Fairway Market to sell two N.J. store leases to Amazon

In a court-supervised asset auction, Fairway Market awarded bids for two store leases in New Jersey to Amazon and six locations in New York City to ShopRite operator Village Super Market Inc. and Key Food Cooperative member Seven Seas Georgetowne LLC.

Amazon is slated to acquire Fairway’s Paramus and Woodland Park, N.J., store leases for $1.5 million, Fairway announced late Wednesday. Meanwhile, Village Super Market will pay $76 million for four of Fairway’s Manhattan stores (Upper East Side, Upper West Side, Chelsea and Kips Bay, plus the parking lot of the Harlem store), its Pelham Manor store in New York's Westchester County, and its production and distribution center in the Bronx. Seven Seas won Fairway’s Georgetown store in Brooklyn, N.Y., with a $5 million bid.

“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. “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.”

Related:Report: Amazon bids for four Fairway Market stores

Fairway entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in late January and, upon filing, the upscale grocer said it aimed to sell all of its stores. The successful bids account for eight of New York-based Fairway’s 14 locations.

“These Fairway stores and DC employ over 1,500 people, who have been doing heroic work responding to our local exigency during the ongoing crisis, clearly demonstrating the critical role our supermarkets play in communities all around the country,” Scott Moses, managing director and head of food retail and restaurant investment banking at PJ Solomon, said in an email late Wednesday. “It is an honor to serve the Fairway team as they rise to the challenge and help sustain New York area families during this difficult period.” New York-based PJ Solomon is serving as Fairway’s M&A investment banking adviser.

Fairway said it will continue to operate stores not sold in the auction “for the foreseeable future.” The remaining locations include one store in Manhattan (Harlem), one in Brooklyn (Red Hook), one in Queens (Douglaston), two in Long Island (Westbury and Plainview) and one in Connecticut (Stamford).

Amazon ended up with two of the four stores for which it made offers. Last week, the New York Post reported that Amazon bid for Fairway’s stores in the Red Hook area of Brooklyn; Pelham Manor, N.Y.; and Woodland Park and Paramus, N.J.

Related:Fairway Market receives higher offer for Manhattan locations

Earlier this month, Fairway received a $75 million offer for its five Manhattan stores, Pelham Manor store and Bronx DC from Brooklyn-based Bogopa Enterprises, which operates 26 Food Bazaar supermarkets in New York City, Westchester County, Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut.

And in January, the same day that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Fairway unveiled a $70 million stalking-horse bid for its five Manhattan stores and DC from Wakefern Food Corp. member Village Super Market. Springfield, N.J.-based Village owns and operates 30 ShopRite supermarkets in New Jersey, Maryland, New York City and Pennsylvania and three Gourmet Garage specialty markets in New York City.

Fairway’s remaining retail locations also include two Wine & Spirits stores in New Jersey and one apiece in New York and Connecticut.