Red Apple rescues rival supermarket chain D’Agostino
D’Agostino, the struggling 84-year- old independent New York supermarket chain, has found its white knight — rival grocer Red Apple Group.
John Catsimatidis’ Red Apple chain, which also owns the Gristedes stores, has set up a revolving credit facility for the cash-strapped D’Agostino operation, the company said on Thursday.
Red Apple would also weigh a move to move D’Agostino into a joint venture.
“They’ve already got skin in the game, so there’s a good chance our plans will go forward,” D’Agostino Chief Executive Nicholas D’Agostino III said of the joint venture he expects to be formed within a month.
“By bringing New York’s two old supermarket families together, we’re hoping two plus two will equal five.”
Catsimatidis said he had even grander expectations, saying efficiencies gained in the joint venture would “turn two plus two into six.”
Both longstanding chains have been struggling in the Manhattan market as national chains like Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and Fresh Direct, move in.
“Almost every supermarket company in America has gone bankrupt,” Catsimatidis told The Post. “But the D’Agostino name deserves to survive.”
D’Agostino wouldn’t comment on the credit revolver except to say it was “big enough to keep our stores full and our customers happy.”
C&S Wholesale Grocers, one of D’Agostino’s top suppliers, had been demanding upfront payments from the grocer because of its poor credit.
Food deliveries had been halved and some shelves were bare.
The revolving credit deal was first reported by the ARMS newsletter.
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