Fairway Market Commits to Rebuilding Brooklyn Store

Fairway Market will rebuild its grocery store in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn that was heavily damaged by Hurricane Sandy. The Red Hook store will remain closed until a total cleanup and renovation are complete.

"…Our Red Hook store sustained a significant amount of damage which necessitated a temporary closure of the location,” stated Herb Ruetsch, CEO of Fairway Market. “We want to assure you that we are 100 percent committed to reopening the store."

In the interim, the New York-based grocery store operator is “working diligently to place those employees who are able to work in other Fairway Market locations,” said Ruetsch.

Fairway Market also worked around the clock to get its other 10 stores open and operational and is receiving deliveries of food and merchandise on an ongoing basis.

In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, "Our first and foremost priority was to ensure the safety and well-being of all our employees,” Ruetsch explained. “Many of them live in or near Red Hook, in Staten Island and the surrounding areas and the past few days for them have been especially devastating."

Fairway Market has been donating truckloads of food, water and other staples to local food banks, emergency relief shelters, soup kitchens, and homeless shelters in Brooklyn, Staten Island and the areas in and around New York. The company has been working hand-in-hand with the offices of the mayor, city council, Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz and other elected officials to ensure that the food, meals and merchandise are going where they are most needed.