Fairway Market is a New York City grocery chain founded in 1933 by Nathan Glickberg, who began with a small fruit and vegetable stand. The flagship store at Broadway and West 74th Street on Manhattan’s Upper West Side became the company’s best-known location, and the chain expanded across the New York metropolitan area over the following decades. Today the surviving Fairway stores are operated by Village Super Markets, a member of the Wakefern Food Corporation cooperative, under the Fairway banner. [1] [2]
Design and History
Fairway’s visual identity has never been a single, fixed mark. Typography archive Fonts In Use documents several distinct logo versions that have appeared on storefronts, signage and the company website over roughly the past decade, reflecting changes in ownership and corporate strategy. [3]
Until around 2012, Fairway used a logo in yellow caps on a blue background. The letterforms were likely custom drawn, though they share characteristics with the typeface McCullagh, including a high-waisted F, an asymmetrical W and a low-waisted R with a flat, vertically cut leg. This version featured red and black outlines and a gradient fill, giving it a nostalgic, sign-painterly appearance. The slogan in this era was set in Univers Bold caps, while the web address below appeared in the system font Arial. [3]
The old logo was retired around the time Fairway was spun off in an initial public offering in April 2013. A subsequent version used yellow caps from the typeface Dom Bold, horizontally stretched and set against a green background, with a drop shadow. Dom Bold is a casual, unconnected brush script with roots in mid-century American grocery signage. The slogan “Like No Other Market” was sometimes rendered in a mechanically extended brush script as well, and later appeared in all caps set in Greg Thompson’s Agenda typeface, with a tapering red underline retained. [3]
The most recent logo change took place shortly after Fairway emerged from bankruptcy in 2016 with new owners. The current version, shown in white on black on the Fairway website, is described by Fonts In Use as “not a drastic redesign, but a cautious revision.” Dom Bold gave way to Ahkio, a slightly inclined hand-drawn display sans designed by Mika Melvas and released in 2014. The slogan underneath is set in caps from Neutraface, designed by Christian Schwartz. Both typefaces are also used on the Fairway website. [3]
Meaning and Symbolism
The company’s slogan, “Like No Other Market,” has been in use since at least 1975, when the earliest trademark date for the phrase was recorded. The slogan appears on store awnings and signage alongside the Fairway wordmark. [4] [5]
The name “Fairway” itself was suggested by Leo Glickberg’s wife, after a business her father had once owned. The family called it a “lucky name.” [1]
Typography and Design
The current Fairway wordmark is set in Ahkio Bold, a typeface that is slightly inclined, adding a sense of movement to the lettering. Fonts In Use notes that some modifications were made to the typeface for the logo: the bar of the F was raised and shortened, the leg of the R curves forward, the apex of the A was cleaned up, and the W uses offset strokes that emphasize a handmade look. The slogan “Like No Other Market” appears underneath in caps from Neutraface. [3]
Earlier versions of the logo drew on different typographic traditions. The pre-2013 mark used a custom or near-custom sans-serif adaptation of McCullagh, while the Dom Bold era referenced the casual brush scripts long used by American sign painters for grocery signage. The Fonts In Use analysis notes that the motivation for these redesigns was not purely formal: the changes tracked with shifts in ownership, management and corporate strategy, including the 2013 IPO and the 2016 bankruptcy emergence. [3]
Logo Index is an independent educational archive covering logos, visual identities and graphic design history. All trademarks and brand assets remain the property of their respective owners.
