Fairway Market to sell two stores to Food Bazaar operator Bogopa

Upscale grocer Fairway Market, currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, has agreed to sell two New York City stores to Bogopa Service Corp., which operates Food Bazaar Supermarkets in metropolitan New York.

Bogopa said yesterday that it plans to acquire Fairway stores in Red Hook, Brooklyn, and Douglaston, Queens, and convert them to the Food Bazaar banner. Brooklyn-based Bogopa has 26 Food Bazaar grocery stores in New York City, Westchester County, Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut.

“These two new Food Bazaar locations will continue to provide the Douglaston and Red Hook communities with the highest quality and variety of perishables, groceries and other unique food offerings that our shoppers have come to expect,” Fairway Market CEO Abel Porter said in a statement. “We are pleased to pass the baton to Food Bazaar, knowing they will welcome our employees to the Bogopa family and will deliver a world-class shopping experience for their customers.”

Brooklyn-based Bogopa has 26 Food Bazaar grocery stores in New York City, Westchester County, Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. According to court documents, Brooklyn-based Bogopa will pay $875,000 for inventory and $5,000 for furniture, fixtures and equipment in acquiring the Red Hook store and has agreed to enter into a new lease. For the Douglaston store, Bogopa will pay a base price of $100,000 and $800,000 for inventory. The company, too, has agreed to offer jobs to at least 90% of union employees at the two Fairway locations.

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

New York-based Fairway entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in late January and, upon filing, said it aimed to sell all of its 14 stores. Then in late March, Fairway awarded bids in court-supervised asset auction 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 acquired Fairway’s Paramus and Woodland Park, N.J., store leases for $1.5 million, and Village Super Market paid $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 acquired Fairway’s Georgetown store in Brooklyn, N.Y., with a $5 million bid.

Fairway locations not yet sold include Westbury and Plainview, N.Y.; Harlem, N.Y.; and Stamford, Conn. Published reports have said Fairway will close stores it’s unable to sell. The company couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Related:Fairway Market receives higher offer for Manhattan locations

Bogopa had previously bid for a larger package of Fairway assets. In March, Fairway said it received a $75 million offer for its five Manhattan stores, Pelham Manor store and Bronx DC from Bogopa.