Fairway Market Grand Opening in Paramus, NJ: The Recap

This may sound a little odd, but I just love new supermarkets. BIG and NEW supermarkets with catchy logos and colorful abundant produce sections at the entrance. I'm in no way a foodie by any means (to save money we've been having boiled chicken and a variety of frozen veggies for dinner), but I love to look at it!

That's why I was excited when I received an invitation to the Fairway Market Grand Opening of the Paramus location. Being a Princeton resident, I didn't know of Fairway NY nor did I know of the long anticipation that residents of North Jersey had for this legendary food store to come to town. But after spending an hour up in Paramus, one of the largest shopping meccas in the state, you understand the excitement for Fairway coming to town.

From the performance by the Paramus Catholic High School band to the masses of press and NJ secret service awaiting the arrival of Governor Corzine, Fairway put on a good show.

Upon entrance to the MASSIVE 50,000 sq ft store were towers of colorful fruit and vegetables with happy cartoon-like signs above them. My first jaw-dropping moment was when I spotted apples for $.69/lb! Since I was stuck within a mass of eager shoppers flowing in a one-way direction, I continued on past the bakery, deli, "cheeses from around the world" counter, human-size coffee grinder, an organic section to rival Trader Joes, almost an entire aisle of olive oil and more. As the slogan states: "It's like no other market."

Since I had more than an hour drive ahead of me, I hesitated to by any of the fruit, veggies or $.99/lb chicken and just made my way back out to join the media and await the ceremony.

Joining Howie and Dan Glickberg, the 3rd and 4th generation owners, were local political figures and special guest Gov. Corzine who thanked the Glickberg's for bringing nearly 350 jobs to Paramus. Mayor James Tedesco called Fairway a "bright shining light" and a business about the people who care about people, price and product.

What started in the 1930s as a fruit and vegetable stand at 2127 Broadway, has turned into a phenomenon of supermarkets. The Fairway Paramus location is the first for NJ, but hopefully not the only!

Hey Fairway, there's an empty supermarket in East Windsor for you!

Fairway Market, Fashion Center Mall, Rt 17 North, Paramus NJ 07652

201-444-5455

8am-11pm

Mrs Mo's Shopping Local Guide: Fairway Supermarket Grand Opening

"The Finest, Freshest and most Fabulous Food Market" opens its Paramus doors tomorrow, March 25th 2009 and I will be there to capture all of the glory!

Located at the Fashion Center on Rt 17, Fairway Paramus brings the legendary NYC foodstore and its eclectic collection of specialty and traditional foods to NJ residents.

Here are some Fun Facts about Fairway:

• Sells more than 85,000 pounds of handmade mozzarella a year,
  15,000 liters of olive oil every week.
  seven tons of coffee every week.
  8,000 pints of strawberries every week.
  almost 60,000 pounds of bananas every week.
  30,000 bagels every week.
  
  
• Has the first deli to offer guanciale (Tuscan-style cured pork cheek), lardo (Tuscan-style cured pork belly), wild boar prosciutto and smoked hams from rare breed hogs such as the six-spotted Norwich and the red-wattled Kansas.
  
  
• Carry foodstuffs from fifteen European countries, six countries from the Far East, ten from Central and South America, Russia and Mongolia.
  
  
• Is first to offer wild salmon, Gulf of Mexico red shrimps, Maine pink shrimps, farmed Indonesian tiger shrimps, geoduck clams, razor clams, Olympia oysters, Kumamoto oysters, fresh eels and branzino (Mediterranean sea bass).
  
  
• Import cheeses upwards of three hundred varieties and is the industry leader for the world of cheese for more than two decades
  
  
• Provide quality, hard to come by items of produce -- such as radicchio di Treviso, sorrel, celery root, salsify, haricots verts, white-tipped radishes, heirloom baby beets, squash and heirloom tomatoes.

Fairway Paramus will be open from 8 am to 11 pm seven days a week. Please call (201) 444 5455 or go to www.DiscoverFairway.com for more information.

Fun Facts and logo courtesy of Dan Klores Communications