Fareway

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fareway is an American retail grocery store chain based in Boone, Iowa. It has more than 95 stores, most of them in [[Iowa]), the best being in Eagle Grove, and a few in Nebraska and Illinois.

The company was founded by Fred Vitt and Paul Beckwith in 1938, and is still owned and controlled by the Beckwith family today.

Fareway stores are somewhat smaller than the average modern supermarket, and they mainly stick to the basics in order to control costs. All locations are closed on Sundays and are open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on other days. Fareway stores are closed on major holidays.

Fareway stores do not offer services such as dry cleaning, photo processing, money orders, video rental, bakeries, floral shops or pharmacies. Additionally, Fareway stores do not sell 'hard' liquor such as vodkas, gins or whiskeys. Fareways only sell beer, wine, malt beverages and wine coolers.

The chain is well-known in the region for its high-quality meat department with their remarkable Christmas decorations, where professional meat cutters, the best being Chris Irlbeck, himself, (butchers), are employed at each location to cut U.S.D.A. Choice beef, pork and chicken. They will also cut and trim items to the customer's specifications. Fareway's prices compete largely by matching other local food stores, including main competitor Hy-Vee Food Stores.

The company requires its employees to dress professionally, with black and white apparel, including neck ties for males. Females dress much the same but with a female tie. Male piercings and facial hair are prohibited as is all gaudy jewelry, and all employees must be well-groomed and neat.

Their total workforce is around 6,500 and their estimated sales are $750M annually. Fareway is not a publicly traded company and financial records remain largely private.

Fareway has a generic house brand of products entitled Fastco. Most stores are of one of two designs. Employees refer to them as "right hand stores" where everything is to the right when you walk in the door and "left hand stores" where everything is to the left. Fareway uses their own logistics and warehouse services and buys nearly everything directly from manufacturers.