It was the smell. Honestly, if you ever walked into the Fairway Food Market Massapequa location back in the day, you remember that specific, overwhelming aroma of roasting coffee beans clashing with the briny scent of the olive bar. It was chaotic. It was loud. It was quintessential New York grocery shopping.
But here’s the thing: that store is gone.
If you drive over to 5000 Sunrise Highway today, you aren't going to find the "World's Greatest Food Store" anymore. The bankruptcy of Fairway Market and the subsequent carving up of its assets changed the Long Island grocery landscape forever. Yet, people still search for it. They look for the hours, the circulars, and the catering menus. It’s kinda fascinating how a grocery brand can leave such a massive footprint on a community’s muscle memory that we collectively refuse to admit it’s finished.
The Rise and Fall of the Massapequa Giant
Fairway didn't just stumble into Massapequa; it arrived with a massive ego. When the store opened in the Northgate Shopping Center, it was a big deal. For years, Long Islanders had to trek into the city or to the Plainview location to get that specific Fairway experience.
The Massapequa footprint was huge. It occupied a massive chunk of real estate that used to be a Waldbaum’s. It brought something different to the South Shore. This wasn't just a place to buy milk and eggs. It was a destination. You went there for the imported cheeses that smelled like feet (the good kind) and the literal wall of olive oils that felt like it belonged in a Tuscan village rather than a strip mall next to a Burlington Coat Factory.
Then things got messy.
By 2020, the company’s financial struggles weren't a secret anymore. They’d already been through one bankruptcy in 2016, but the second one was the nail in the coffin. The Fairway Food Market Massapequa location was part of a high-stakes auction. While some stores in Manhattan were saved by Village Super Market (the ShopRite people), the Massapequa lease was picked up by Amazon.
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Why the Amazon Takeover Felt Like a Betrayal
It’s weird to feel emotional about a corporate lease transfer, right? But for Massapequa residents, it felt like losing a personality. Fairway had grit. It was messy. It had "Fairway Bill" and those hand-painted signs. Amazon, on the other hand, is the definition of clinical.
The plan was for the site to become an Amazon Fresh store. For a long time, the windows were blacked out. The "Coming Soon" signs teased a high-tech shopping experience where you wouldn't even have to talk to a cashier. But as the retail world shifted post-2022, Amazon hit the brakes on their physical grocery expansion. This left the old Fairway site in a sort of retail purgatory.
It sat. And it sat.
Eventually, the space was subdivided. This is a common tactic in modern commercial real estate when a single "big box" tenant is too risky to rely on. Today, the site has been transformed into multiple retail units, including a Lidl and an Uncle Giuseppe’s nearby that has effectively siphoned off the old Fairway crowd.
What Made the Fairway Experience So Different?
You can't talk about the Fairway Food Market Massapequa without talking about the "Cold Room." You know the one. That massive, walk-in refrigerator where you had to wear a parka just to pick out a carton of yogurt. It was a rite of passage. If you didn't leave that section of the store with mild hypothermia, did you even shop at Fairway?
- The Bakery: They had those crusty baguettes that were actually crusty. Not the soft, pillow-y stuff you get at a standard supermarket.
- The Coffee: It was roasted on-site. The noise was deafening, but the freshness was unmatched for the price point.
- The Cheese: It was curated by people who actually knew the difference between a 12-month and a 24-month aged Comte.
- The Chaos: Narrow aisles. People bumping carts. It felt like a sport.
Most grocery stores today, like the Lidl that took over a portion of that space, are designed for efficiency. They want you in and out. Fairway was designed for discovery. You went in for bread and left with a $40 jar of truffle honey and a whole smoked whitefish.
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The Competition: Who Filled the Void?
When Fairway left, it created a vacuum. Massapequa isn't exactly hurting for food, but the "foodie" demographic was suddenly homeless.
Uncle Giuseppe’s Marketplace, located just a bit further down on Hicksville Road, really stepped up. They leaned into the "theatrical" grocery experience—live pasta making, massive deli counters, and a bakery that rivals anything in the city. If you’re looking for that Fairway vibe where the food feels like an event, that’s your closest bet.
Then you have Whole Foods in Merrick or Westbury. It’s polished. It’s clean. But it lacks that rough-around-the-edges New York soul that Fairway had.
The Reality of Grocery Real Estate in 2026
The disappearance of the Fairway Food Market Massapequa is actually a case study in how retail works now. The era of the 60,000-square-foot specialty grocer is dying. It’s too expensive to maintain that much inventory, especially with perishables.
The industry is moving toward two extremes:
- Deep Discount/High Efficiency: Think Lidl or Aldi. Smaller footprints, limited selection, very low prices.
- High-End Experience: Stores where you pay a premium for the atmosphere and the prepared foods.
Fairway tried to be both. It had the "no-frills" warehouse feel but sold high-end imports. In the end, the margins just didn't work. The Massapequa location was a victim of a corporate structure that was top-heavy and drowning in debt from private equity deals gone wrong.
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Practical Steps for Former Fairway Shoppers
If you are still holding onto a Fairway circular from 2019, it’s time to let go. But you don't have to sacrifice quality.
First, if you want that specific Fairway brand coffee, you can actually still buy it online. The brand name was bought, and while the physical store in Massapequa is a ghost, the beans live on.
Second, check out the local specialty shops. For cheese, head to the small independent mongers in Huntington or Babylon. For produce, the local farmers' markets in the summer months offer better quality than any big-box store ever could.
Third, embrace the Lidl that now occupies part of that Northgate space. It’s different. It’s European. It’s weirdly affordable. It won't have 50 types of olive oil, but it’ll get the job done for your Tuesday night dinner.
Where We Go From Here
The ghost of Fairway Food Market Massapequa still haunts the local Facebook groups. Every few months, someone posts a photo of a vintage Fairway reusable bag, and the comments section turns into a therapy session. "Remember the pickles?" "Remember the guy who used to yell about the fresh mozzarella?"
We don't just miss the food. We miss the culture. We miss the feeling that we were part of a secret club that knew where the best balsamic vinegar was hidden.
The site at 5000 Sunrise Highway is moving on. The neighborhood is changing. But the impact of that one store remains a benchmark for what a grocery store can be when it decides to have a personality.
Actionable Takeaways for Local Shoppers
- Audit Your Grocery Routine: If you find yourself driving to three different stores to replicate what Fairway offered, look into local delivery services like FreshDirect, which carries many of the same artisanal brands Fairway used to stock.
- Support the Subdivided Tenants: The retailers that took over the Northgate space depend on local foot traffic. The "big box" era is over; the "neighborhood hub" era is what keeps these plazas alive.
- Explore Uncle Giuseppe’s: If you haven't been to their Massapequa location lately, they’ve expanded their "theatre" elements significantly to capture the old Fairway demographic.
- Shop Small: Use the loss of the "big" specialty store as an excuse to find a local butcher or a dedicated bakery in the heart of Massapequa Park.
The era of the Massapequa Fairway is over, but the high standards it set for the community haven't gone anywhere. We just have to look a little harder to find them now.