Does Fairway Charge East Siders More?

A reader wrote asking why some groceries cost more at the Upper East Side location than the Upper West Side

A can of Bumble Bee wild Alaskan salmon at the Fairway on East 86th Street is priced at $7.19 a can ? but the same exact product is only $5.49 at the Upper West Side Fairway on Broadway and 74th Street.

J. Rubin, a local shopper, wrote to Fairway, and to us, to try to get to the bottom of this discrepancy.

We decided to see for ourselves. We sent a reporter to compare prices for a host of products (see chart) at the West Side and East Side locations. Prices were checked on Thursday, May 23, and do not include any sales or specials.

Here's what we found: While a few prices were indeed higher on the East Side (Frosted Flakes and Twinning tea will set you back a couple extra dimes) there were also a few items more expensive on the West Side, like Chips Ahoy and Ghiradelli hot chocolate. Many prices, however, were the exact same.

But what about that glaringly high mark-up on the salmon?

Fairway did not respond to our email, but did respond to Rubin's email, apologizing for what turns out to be a pricing error, which the store said they have since corrected.

"The retail for the Bumble Bee Wild Salmon should be $6.49 at our 86th Street location, and $5.99 at Broadway, and these retails were corrected," said a customer service representative in an email. "The difference in these retails is due to promotional pricing we received from our vendor at our Broadway location. We are sincerely sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you, and we thank you for bringing this matter to our attention."

It seems that Fairway is offering a fairly even grocery shopping experience for both the Upper East and West Sides.

Do you have questions about what's up in your neighborhood?

Email reporter@strausnews.com with "What's Up With That" in the subject line and we'll investigate some of the most interesting ones.