Fairway Market

Fairway Market's 2020 liquidation ended a New York grocery institution after private equity expansion destroyed what made it special. The company had thrived as a quirky, crowded Upper West Side store; private equity expansion into suburban locations diluted the brand while adding debt. When COVID-19 hit, Fairway couldn't survive. The mechanism failure was scaling what couldn't scale—Fairway's appeal was its specific New York density and chaos, which couldn't be replicated in suburban locations.