Just giving a heads up:

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-09-11/news/33768778_1_rats-peanuts-fairway-market

Baby Rat INSIDE Upper West Side Fairway Olive Bar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mThVOgDJYmY

omg, I'm so grossed out.
The biggens in the cheese section? lol, barf
A lovely thought: a glass of cava at the Boqueria, altho I bet they got some varmints too, but none so blatantly frollicking in the olives, blah!

Dwell, sorry to upset the story, but all supermarkets have rats. The only thing different here, is that the Fairway rat made youtube.

I was in a supermarket in Hollywood Ca. some years ago in the produce section & there was a burly little black rat amongst the display of bananas. I alerted the produce guy working nearby & he said, "Okay, I'll tell them; I'm not going over there!" We would probably not want to know how many of those rodents are about; here, there, everywhere . . .

At least it wasn't a dead rat. So the food must be good.

Not in the nice new one in yorkville!

Aww that little guy is adorable!!!!

Most rats in NYC are two-legged

When I first moved to NYC, I went in the Westside Market (not a nice store, in those days!). Saw a cat, reported it to management, thinking they must not know there was a cat in the store. Was informed, "Oh yes--he catch the mice!" Probably was r*ts.

In the old days a supermarket or deli would keep some cats around especially to keep the mice and rats away, but NYC and their brilliant health code sees it differently.

Dwell: I'm pretty sure that's a mouse in the Youtube video of the Fairway olive bar. The narration even says so. I guess the Youtube poster figured "baby rat" would get more hits.

Yes, there are rats all over the Upper West Side. H&H Bagels was one of their favorite haunts. I've never seen one in Fairway; but with the amount of produce they display on the sidewalk near ground level, there's no way the rats could miss it.

It's a disgusting video though. The store needs to better protect the food. There should be lids on the olives at least.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DXdbj_SFZw&feature=player_embedded

What bothers me most about this, is this is on top of the doubling of prices at Fairway on many of their items these past two and half years. Fairway used to be the place to save 30% over the other neighborhood supermarkets. Today that role is filled by Trader Joes and sometimes Jubilee markets.

West 81. I agree that was a mouse, but a month ago someone else filmed what clearly was a rat

Why are people so shocked when there are rats (or cockroaches or bedbugs) in any given building in New York City -- let alone in a giant warehouse by their piers???

Care to invest?

http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2012/09/24/fairway-ipo-everything-you-need-to-know/

Fairway Group, the parent of famed New York grocery store Fairway is going public.

The company had filed confidentially, under the new JOBS Act, and tonight unveiled its offering to the public.

Here are the relevant details that Deal Journal compiled for this favorite spot of New Yorkers:

Seeking – $150 million

Ticker – FWM

Exchange -- Nasdaq

Underwriters – Credit Suisse, BofA Merrill Lynch, Jefferies, William Blair

Current store count – 11, seven of which were opened since March 2009.

Sales: Fiscal year ended April 1, 2012 up 14% to $554.9 million. For the 13 weeks ended July 3: up 26% to $154.7 million.

Losses: Fiscal 2012: $12 million, down from $18.6 million in 2011. It expects losses to continue through at least fiscal 2014.

Balance sheet: Cash: $11.4 million. Total Debt: $203 million.

Use of Proceeds: Paying unspecified unpaid dividends to investors and then new store growth and other general corporate purposes.

Get excited, New York suburb dwellers – “For the next several years, we intend to grow our store base in the Greater New York City metropolitan area, primarily in suburban locations, at a rate of three to four stores annually.”

Dreams of massive expansion – “We believe, based on these demographics, we have the opportunity to more than triple the number of stores in our existing marketing region, that the Northeast market (from New England to the District of Columbia) can support up to 90 stores and the U.S. market can support more than 300 additional stores (including stores in the Northeast) operating under our current format.”

Efficient – “We believe our food stores are among the most productive in the industry in net sales per store and net sales per square foot as a result of our distinctive merchandising strategies, value proposition and efficient operating structure.”

Ownership – Sterling Investment Partners: Series A: 93%; Series B: 78.5%. Sterling bought the company in 2007 and pushed the expansion so far.

One young board member – Daniel Glickberg, 29, has served as a director of Fairway since June 2010…”Mr. Glickberg’s qualifications to sit on our board include his substantial experience with Fairway in the areas of merchandising and marketing. Mr. Glickberg is the great grandson of our founder.”
Risks

Growth depends on new store openings – “New stores, particularly those we open outside the Greater New York metropolitan area, may not achieve sustained sales and operating levels consistent with our mature store base on a timely basis or at all.”

New openings can “cannibalize” current stores – “All of our existing stores are located in a concentrated market area in the Greater New York City metropolitan area, and we intend to grow our store base in this area in the near term at a rate of three to four stores annually. As we open new stores in closer proximity to our customers who currently travel longer distances to shop at our stores, we expect some of these customers to take advantage of the convenience of our new locations.”

One landlord has a lot of power – Our Broadway store is one of our most important stores. The store is located in two properties with two different landlords. The landlord for the building in which approximately half of this store is located has the right, at any time after June 30, 2017, to terminate the lease, upon at least 18 months’ prior notice, in order to make substantial renovations to the existing building or construct a new building.

Spilt milk – We have a significant focus on perishable products. Sales of perishable products accounted for approximately 65% of our sales in fiscal 2012. … We could suffer significant perishable product inventory losses in the event of the loss of a major supplier or vendor, disruption of our supply chain, extended power outages, natural disasters or other catastrophic occurrences.

Plagues etc. – Our business may be severely impacted by wartime activities, threats or acts of terror or a widespread regional, national or global health epidemic, such as pandemic flu.

This is the reason to not invest: disclosure. Clearly this is a farce and the IPO is not to raise money for new growth but for investors to cash out. I'm supposed to buy into the IPO and not know the intent of how much much insiders want to cash out from the proceeds raised? See below:

"Use of Proceeds: Paying unspecified unpaid dividends to investors"