Fairway’s Howard Glickberg Retires, Keeps Board Post

Howard Glickberg, who took his grandfather’s fruit and vegetable stand on 74th and Broadway in New York and built it into the iconic Fairway Market with 15 locations across the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut region, has retired from the company.

“Howie has been indefatigable and indispensable to Fairway’s growth over the past four decades,” said Jack Murphy, CEO. “It was his vision to bring together the corner butcher, bakery, cheesemonger, fish market and farmer’s market all under one roof, and add in an unparalleled selection of traditional, specialty and organic groceries at the best prices.” 

Charles Santoro, executive chairman, added, “On behalf of all of us at Fairway, I want to extend a heartfelt thank-you to Howie for his great contributions and support over the many years we have all worked together in building Fairway. Although Howie has stepped down from his everyday duties, we are pleased he will continue to play an important role on our board.”

Glickberg, the longtime CEO and more recently vice chairman of real estate development, unofficially began “working” at Fairway as a child when he would accompany his father to the original location. He then officially began his tenure while a college student.

“I’ve dedicated the past 40 years of my life to building the world’s greatest food store,” said Glickberg, 67. “It’s been my life’s work 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In the past when I would take a little vacation, I would somehow wind up visiting a supermarket. And if I saw an apple out of place, I would fix it. So I’ve never traveled anywhere without Fairway on my mind.”

Glickberg said he plans on spending the next 40 years traveling, fishing, playing golf and “just relaxing. I’ve earned the right not to have to fix that out-of-place apple anymore.”

He noted that his grandfather, Nathan, would be “amazed” and “proud” that the “small fruit and vegetable stand he opened more than 80 years ago has evolved into a company that is beloved by so many people across the tri-state region.” 

Glickberg began his full-time involvement with Fairway Market in 1974, six years after he graduated from C.W. Post College and after a stint as a stockbroker and a part-time staff member at a fish market. In 1975, to build the company, he partnered with David Sneddon and Harold Seybert. They began adding specialty items, expanding the space and emphasizing fresh fruit and vegetables that are at the core of all Fairway Markets.

For the next three decades, he and his team helped to make Fairway Market an icon in New York and the food store with the highest volume-per-square-foot of any in the country. When he decided to open a store in Harlem, he “ignored anyone who said he was crazy,” believing that high-quality merchandise at the best prices is what every consumer wants. Fairway was welcomed into its neighborhood in 1995, where it continues to thrive.

Locations in Plainview, Long Island and Red Hook, Brooklyn, followed over the next several years, before Sterling Investment Partners acquired a controlling interest in the company and infused it with capital to facilitate greater expansion. There are now 15 Fairway Markets and three Fairway Wine and Spirits locations.