D'Agostino Supermarkets
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Formerly called
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Yorkville Food Shoppe D'Agostino Brothers |
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| Private | |
| Industry | Grocery retail |
| Founded | 1932 |
| Founders | Pasquale "Patsy" D'Agostino Nicola "Nick" D'Agostino |
| Headquarters | Larchmont, New York, United States |
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Number of locations
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26 stores (peak) 10 stores (2017) |
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Area served
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New York City Westchester County |
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Key people
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Nicholas D'Agostino, Jr., Chairman Nicholas D'Agostino, III, CEO G. Robert James, President |
| Revenue | US$200,000,000+ (peak) |
| Website | www |
D'Agostino Supermarkets is a family-owned supermarket chain in the New York City area, 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, with annual sales exceeding $200 million. By 2016 under financial pressure, D'Agostino's consolidated to nine stores (now ten), all in Manhattan, and was considering selling to a rival grocer.
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, a prosperous neighborhood that could afford quality groceries even during the Great Depression. 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." 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.
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Wikipedia