Nicholas D'Agostino Sr. (1910–1996) was a supermarket magnate in New York City. He and his brother Pasquale (1905–1960) were Italian-American immigrants and the founders of D'Agostino Supermarkets, one of New York's historically original and leading grocery chains. The D'Agostino brothers pioneered and popularized the concept of the modern supermarket by providing shoppers the opportunity to do all food shopping under one roof, spanning dairy, produce and frozen foods. At its peak, D'Agostino's operated 26 locations across the New York Metropolitan area, generating over $300 million in annual revenue. D'Agostino paved the way for several of New York's most noteworthy specialty food shopping establishments, such as Balducci's, Citarella and Zabar's.
Pasquale and Nicholas D'Agostino 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. As of 2016, the resulting supermarket chain was still owned and managed by the D'Agostino family. 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. His two sons, Stephen and Nicholas Jr., both graduates of the College of the Holy Cross, took the reins, with Stephen serving as the Chief Executive until 1984, after which he went onto lead JTL Corporation, the largest independent Coca-Cola bottling corporation. Nicholas Jr. succeeded his brother and continues to serve as Chairman Emeritus.
Nicholas D'Agostino Sr. embodied the iconic rags-to-riches and American Dream story, and in addition to being a successful businessman, he was widely regarded as a philanthropist. After becoming a multi-millionaire in the United States, D'Agostino funded charities and a host of other projects for the Catholic Archdiocese of New York and in his native Italy. He was a recipient of the B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation Award (1970) as well as the Horatio Alger Award (1982), whose previous honorees included other "self-made" Americans such as Dwight Eisenhower, Billy Graham, Conrad Hilton, Bob Hope and Ronald Reagan.
D'Agostino died in 1996 at the age of 86. He was survived by his wife Josephine, their three children, Stephen, Nicholas Jr., Loretta (Schmitz), and 17 grandchildren, one of whom later wrote a doctoral dissertation on D'Agostino Supermarkets. The funeral of Nicholas Sr. was held at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan, in respect to his great philanthropy and activism for the Catholic Church.
References
"Members". Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
. D'Agostino Supermarkets. 1996. Archived from the original on March 2, 2005.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
Greenhouse, Steven (June 25, 1996). "Nicholas D'Agostino Sr., 86, Founder of Grocery Chain". The New York Times. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
Lapomarda, Vincent A. (2003). "D'Agostino Sr., Nicholas (1910–1996)". The Italian American Experience: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. ISBN978-1135583330. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
Schmitz, Paul (2006). (Ph.D. thesis). Boston University. Archived from the original on July 4, 2015. Retrieved July 2, 2016.
January 24, 2023
nicholas, agostino, 1910, 1996, supermarket, magnate, york, city, brother, pasquale, 1905, 1960, were, italian, american, immigrants, founders, agostino, supermarkets, york, historically, original, leading, grocery, chains, agostino, brothers, pioneered, popul. Nicholas D Agostino Sr 1910 1996 was a supermarket magnate in New York City He and his brother Pasquale 1905 1960 were Italian American immigrants and the founders of D Agostino Supermarkets one of New York s historically original and leading grocery chains The D Agostino brothers pioneered and popularized the concept of the modern supermarket by providing shoppers the opportunity to do all food shopping under one roof spanning dairy produce and frozen foods At its peak D Agostino s operated 26 locations across the New York Metropolitan area generating over 300 million in annual revenue D Agostino paved the way for several of New York s most noteworthy specialty food shopping establishments such as Balducci s Citarella and Zabar s Nicholas D Agostino Sr BornNicola D Agostino 1910 06 08 June 8 1910Bugnara ItalyDiedJune 23 1996 1996 06 23 aged 86 Manhasset New YorkOther namesNickOccupationGrocery retailYears active1932 1984Known forD Agostino SupermarketsFamily career philanthropy EditPasquale and Nicholas D Agostino 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 As of 2016 the resulting supermarket chain was still owned and managed by the D Agostino family 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 His two sons Stephen and Nicholas Jr both graduates of the College of the Holy Cross took the reins with Stephen serving as the Chief Executive until 1984 after which he went onto lead JTL Corporation the largest independent Coca Cola bottling corporation Nicholas Jr succeeded his brother and continues to serve as Chairman Emeritus Nicholas D Agostino Sr embodied the iconic rags to riches and American Dream story and in addition to being a successful businessman he was widely regarded as a philanthropist After becoming a multi millionaire in the United States D Agostino funded charities and a host of other projects for the Catholic Archdiocese of New York and in his native Italy He was a recipient of the B nai B rith Anti Defamation Award 1970 as well as the Horatio Alger Award 1982 whose previous honorees included other self made Americans such as Dwight Eisenhower Billy Graham Conrad Hilton Bob Hope and Ronald Reagan D Agostino died in 1996 at the age of 86 He was survived by his wife Josephine their three children Stephen Nicholas Jr Loretta Schmitz and 17 grandchildren one of whom later wrote a doctoral dissertation on D Agostino Supermarkets The funeral of Nicholas Sr was held at St Patrick s Cathedral in Manhattan in respect to his great philanthropy and activism for the Catholic Church References Edit Members Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans Retrieved September 5 2016 Nicholas D Agostino Sr obituary D Agostino Supermarkets 1996 Archived from the original on March 2 2005 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint unfit URL link Greenhouse Steven June 25 1996 Nicholas D Agostino Sr 86 Founder of Grocery Chain The New York Times Retrieved December 28 2015 Lapomarda Vincent A 2003 D Agostino Sr Nicholas 1910 1996 The Italian American Experience An Encyclopedia Routledge ISBN 978 1135583330 Retrieved July 1 2016 Schmitz Paul 2006 D Agostino Supermarkets from Pushcart to Product Family and Ethnicity as Cultural Currency Ph D thesis Boston University Archived from the original on July 4 2015 Retrieved July 2 2016 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Nicholas D 27Agostino Sr amp oldid 1134315912, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
