John A. Catsimatidis
PER
John A. Catsimatidis Catsimatidis
Gristedes, which has 39 supermarkets in Manhattan, gave up a store it has had for 30 years at 62nd Street and Second Avenue after being outbid by Chase Bank, said John A. Catsimatidis, chief executive of the chain. He also said that if one looks at the previous 10 years then they'll have 50 percent fewer supermarkets than one had then, and going forward 10 years the number will probably halve again. A decade or so ago, a supermarket would pay an amount equivalent to 2 percent of its sales in rent in affluent neighborhoods, Mr. Catsimatidis said, but now it has to pay as much as 8 percent of sales. To hold onto a store on University Place and Eighth Street, he had to agree to twice the previous rent.