![D'Ag](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/D%27Ag.logo.png)
D'Agostino Supermarkets once a family-owned
supermarket
A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...
chain in the
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
area, is now owned by Gristedes. The store was founded in 1932 by brothers Pasquale and
Nicola D'Agostino, in the pioneering phase of the supermarket industry. At D'Agostino's peak in the 1990s, the chain operated at 26 locations in New York City and adjacent
Westchester County
Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population o ...
, with annual sales exceeding $200 million. By 2016 under financial pressure, D'Agostino's consolidated to nine stores (now ten), all in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, and sold a controlling interest to
John Catsimatidis
John A. Catsimatidis (born September 7, 1948) is an American billionaire businessman and radio talk show host. He is the owner, president, chairman, and CEO of Gristedes Foods, a grocery chain in Manhattan, and the Red Apple Group, a real estat ...
, owner of Gristedes.
Founding and expansion
![Opening of 20th Street](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Opening_of_20th_Street.jpg)
The founders of D'Agostino Supermarkets, brothers Pasquale and Nicholas D'Agostino Sr., emigrated from the mountain village of
Bugnara, Italy, arriving separately in New York City as teenagers in the 1920s. Due to their poverty, they skipped high school and instead furthered their education by assisting merchants including their father's fruit-and-vegetable pushcart business.
In 1932, the brothers bought a small shop on Manhattan's
Upper East Side
The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...
, a prosperous neighborhood whose residents could afford quality groceries even during the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. In 1939, the store moved to larger quarters nearby; the brothers named it the Yorkville Food Shoppe and added a meat department. In a key innovation, they gave people the opportunity to shop for meat, produce, dairy and baked goods in a single store, helping to pioneer and popularize the idea of the "supermarket". D'Agostino's flourished in the
post-WWII economic boom and opened another large store in 1950, on 20th Street alongside
Stuyvesant Town – Peter Cooper Village.
[
Pasquale died in 1960 and Nicholas ultimately bought out his share of the business, to serve as CEO, chairman and President, and to resolve the family succession issue. At this time, there were eight D'Agostino stores on Manhattan's East Side. With its reputation for quality meats, D'Agostino's ran popular ads in the 1960s that teased, "Please don't kiss the butcher," which led to jokes about the family owing money instead to the milkman or other bill collector instead. Nicholas D'Agostino relinquished daily management to his sons, Stephen and Nicholas Jr., in 1964. With Nicholas Sr. continuing as chairman, Stephen became president and CEO in 1972, and Nicholas Jr. succeeded him in 1982.][
During the 1970s, D'Agostino's expanded to Manhattan's West Side, and promoted the chain with sturdy plastic "D'Ag Bags" that were fashionable enough to bring further cachet. The store's singing commercials, created by Jo Foxworth, with the tag line, "Please, Mr. D'Agostino, Move Closer to Me," aired routinely on radio and television during this period. At its peak in the 1990s, after two generations of steady expansion, the chain operated at 26 locations in New York City and adjacent Westchester County, with annual sales exceeding $200 million.][
]
Difficulties and downsizing
During the 2000s, D'Agostino's and similar stores experienced worsening competitive pressure from larger chains of supermarkets and drugstore
A pharmacy (also called "drugstore" in American English or "community pharmacy" or "chemist" in Commonwealth English, or rarely, apothecary) is a retail shop which provides pharmaceutical drugs, among other products. At the pharmacy, a pharmacis ...
s. At the same time, worsening financial pressure from New York real estate costs, unionized
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
labor expenses, and trade credit
Trade credit is the loan extended by one trader to another when the goods and services are bought on credit. Trade credit facilitates the purchase of supplies without immediate payment. Trade credit is commonly used by business organizations as a ...
restrictions severely limited the cash available for refilling shelves. By 2016, under CEO Nicholas D'Agostino III, the chain consolidated back to nine stores, all in Manhattan, and was considering combining with Key Food
Key Food Stores Co-op, Inc. is a cooperative of independently owned supermarkets, founded in Brooklyn, New York, on April 20, 1937. Its stores are found in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Florida. The headqua ...
, Gristedes
Gristedes is a New York City-based chain of supermarkets. It serves a mostly urban customer base.
History Gristede Brothers: 1891-1987
Charles Gristede and his brother Diedrich came to the United States from Germany in 1888, found work in gro ...
, or another rival grocer. A $10 million line of credit
A line of credit is a credit facility extended by a bank or other financial institution to a government, business or individual customer that enables the customer to draw on the facility when the customer needs funds. A line of credit takes se ...
from the owner of Gristedes helped stabilize operations.
Since the acquisition of a controlling interest of D'Agostino's by Gristedes(see above), D'Agostino's food and product selection and price points have largely changed to mirror Gristede's offerings. The meat counter, which often featured on-site butchers able to cut meat to customers' orders have almost entirely been removed and replaced by a "meat clerk." This, too models most Gristedes supermarkets, where meat and fish are pre-packaged and shipped to the individual stores. D'Agostino's once respected for its broad offerings high-quality in cheese has also been transformed largely to mirror the Gristedes chain.
Popular culture
D'Agostino's has long used the slogan "New York's Grocer" and has often appeared in entertainment media to convey the New York setting. The chain figured prominently in the 1974 film ''Death Wish
Death Wish or Deathwish may refer to:
Common meanings
*Suicidal ideation, term for thoughts about killing oneself
*Death drive, term in Freudian psychiatry
Arts and entertainment Radio
*"Death Wish", a 1957 episode of the radio series ''X Minus ...
'', including a series of scenes within the store itself. The store also features in the 1975 movie, ''The Prisoner of Second Avenue
''The Prisoner of Second Avenue'' is a 1975 American black comedy film directed and produced by Melvin Frank and starring Jack Lemmon and Anne Bancroft. The film was adapted from the 1971 play by Neil Simon.
Plot
The story revolves around the esc ...
''. On television, D'Agostino's is where ''Will & Grace
''Will & Grace'' is an American television sitcom created by Max Mutchnick and David Kohan. Set in New York City, the show focuses on the friendship between best friends Will Truman (Eric McCormack), a gay lawyer, and Grace Adler (Debra Messing), ...
'' ran into each other a year after their falling out, and the store was often featured in the series ''Friends
''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa ...
''. In the 1991 novel ''American Psycho
''American Psycho'' is a novel by Bret Easton Ellis, published in 1991. The story is told in the first person by Patrick Bateman, a serial killer and Manhattan investment banker. Alison Kelly of ''The Observer'' notes that while "some countr ...
'', serial killer Patrick Bateman shops at D'Agostino's. In ''Ghostbusters II
''GhostbustersII'' is a 1989 American Supernatural fiction, supernatural comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Ramis, Rick Moranis ...
'', Dana Barrett is seen holding a bag of groceries from D'Agostino's. D'Agostino's is mentioned in the Drivin' N' Cryin' song "Honeysuckle Blue".
References
Further reading
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External links
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{{Supermarkets of the United States
Supermarkets of the United States
Companies based in Westchester County, New York
Shops in New York City
Retail companies established in 1932
1932 establishments in New York City
Larchmont, New York
Family-owned companies of the United States