Last week was the grand opening of the Fairway market in Stamford, Connecticut. I made my first visit there this morning. The advertising slogan used by Fairway is "Like no other market!" It certainly is accurate. First of all, the place is enormous; it was so big that I did not even get to see all of it. Second, the range of selection was also extraordinary. The markets already in the area mostly have a part of the selling range in which they concentrate. Whole Foods is high end organic and natural. A&P Fresh is mid range. Stop and Shop is moving down towards the lower range. From what I could see, Fairway covers the high, middle and some of the lower end as well. More important, the prices were lower than elsewhere, something that seems odd to me. It may be that Fairway has lower prices because it has just opened. The low prices may be a lure to get new customers. Nevertheless, products seemed to be about 25% less than the same thing in Whole Foods. Indeed, either Fairway will raise its prices, or the volumes at Whole Foods in Greenwich and Darien will soon collapse. the price differential is just too great.
As best as I could determine, the prices were also lower than those at the A&P. the difference was not as stark as the comparison with Whole Foods, but it was at least 10%.
Not surprising, the place was packed with throngs of shoppers. I asked the cashier at the checkout line if the crowd had been this big previously. She told me that I had come at an off time and that in the afternoons, the crowds were much larger.
I checked to see if Fairway is a public company and have learned that it is not. If it were public, I would invest tomorrow. This is one successful company with a great concept. All I can say is welcome to Connecticut.
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