John Catsimatidis talks about his run for the New York City Mayor in his Manhattan Office. (Photo By: Mark Bonifacio/NY Daily News via Getty Images)
NY Daily News via Getty Images
Big Apple billionaire John Catsimatidis planned to move his business to New Jersey if Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor. Now he’s reconsidering.
New York City supermarket billionaire John Catsimatidis went nuclear in June, when Zohran Mamdani, who had proposed opening a cheap city-run grocery story in each of the five boroughs, won the democratic primary for mayor. Catsimatidis held a press conference with Bodega owners; publicly threatened to shut down his 30-plus stores if the democratic socialist won the election; and ranted on TV. “He’s not qualified… this is silly,” he said on FOX News, comparing Mamdani to Fidel Castro. “It’s one big con game.”
He also called President Trump, who publicly backed his friend. “[Mamdani] actually wants to take over the grocery stores of John Catsimatidis, who’s a great guy, a rich guy,” Trump said of his buddy, whose net worth Forbes pegs at $4.8 billion, “He actually called me the other day, he’s concerned his stores are going to be taken from him, and they won’t be run like John runs them, believe me, he runs a good operation.”
Now that Mamdani has been elected, Catsimatidis is once again agitating. “I think a lot of business people are reducing their exposure to New York City,” he tells Forbes. Catsimatidis—whose $7.8 billion (revenue) Red Apple Group also owns a Pennsylvania oil refinery, some 400 convenience stores and a portfolio of real estate stretching from New York to Florida—had been looking to move Red Apple’s headquarters to New Jersey if Mamdani became mayor. He changed his mind after Tuesday’s election. “New Jersey didn’t go the right way,” he says—after the state resoundingly elected Democrat Mikie Sherrill as governor. Now, he’s looking for “friendly states” to relocate operations, with Florida being the most likely candidate. “The key word is a common sense place to do business in,” explains Catsimatidis.
The nearly lifelong New Yorker, who immigrated to the city from Greece at six months old, dropped out of New York University his senior year to open the first Red Apple grocery store in 1971. Within four years, Catsimatidis had ten stores and was making $1 million a year. Today, Red Apple Group, which acquired Gristedes supermarkets in 1986 and recently gained a controlling share in D’Agostino stores, says it’s the largest supermarket chain in New York City, with most of its stores in Manhattan.
Mamdani’s plan to set up city-sponsored stores – which would be exempt from paying rent or taxes, would partner with farmers and small businesses to offer groceries at wholesale prices and with no plans to make money – is in response to soaring food costs. “Whether you are…a single mom still waiting for the cost of groceries to go down, or anyone else with their back against the wall. Your struggle is ours, too,” he said in his victory speech Tuesday night.
Catsimatidis claims it’s also his struggle. “We don’t have any profit margins,” he says, explaining that his stores have been losing money for “at least two years.” He blames the state of the city: “Shoplifting is up to an all-time high. A lot of stuff is being closed up, which means that it’s not easy for people to shop, so sales are down.”
Catsimatidis, who employs a few thousand people, hasn’t decided how his business will respond if city-run stores undercut its prices, but says he’s “sure” he will need to reduce its workforce. “Can you imagine a tax-free supermarket that pays no commercial rent tax, no sales tax… I mean, how do you compete against that?,” he says. “You can’t fight city hall.”
Catsimatidis ran for mayor in the 2013 Republican primary but lost the nomination to Joe Lhota who then lost the race to democrat Bill de Blasio. “The way things are right now, we pay taxes on our taxes. I mean, it’s out of control,” he says, “No wonder people are yelling and screaming that prices of food are too high.”
While he threatens to relocate, Catsimatidis still has a soft spot for the Big Apple: “I just hope he keeps the quality of life going in the city and does not cut the New York Police Department down.”