Big Apple Supermarket & Red Apple Supermarket
There have been both “Big Apple” and “Red Apple” supermarkets.
Sam Alterman opened the “Big Apple” supermarket in 1939 at 794 Marietta Street, N.W., in Atlanta, Georgia. The “Big Apple” name was probably influenced by the 1937 “Big Apple” dance craze. Big Apple supermarkets became popular in Georgia, but the business was folded into Food Giant supermarkets and the “Big Apple” name disappeared by the 1980s.
John Catsimatidis opened the “Red Apple” supermarket in 1971 at Broadway and 99th Street in Manhattan. The “Red Apple” name was probably influenced by the New York Convention & Visitors Bureau’s “Big Apple” advertising campaign.
Wikipedia: John Catsimatidis
John A. Catsimatidis (born September 7, 1948) is a Greek-American billionaire businessman and radio talk show host. He is the owner, president, chairman, and CEO of Gristedes Foods, the largest grocery chain in Manhattan, and the Red Apple Group, a real estate and aviation company with about $700 million to $800 million in holdings in New York, Florida, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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Business career
In 1971, Catsimatidis opened his first store, at Broadway and 99th Street. Shortly thereafter, he purchased another grocery store on 87th street just west of Broadway, naming it Red Apple. Among his business innovations were staying open late seven days a week, offering free delivery, and cashing checks for customers.[5] Catsimatidis has stated that by the time he was 24 years old, “I built up ten stores and the business was doing $25 million a year, and I was personally earning a million dollars a year.”
By the summer of 1981, Red Apple had 27 stores in the Bronx and Manhattan, with annual sales of around $40 million. These grew to $110 million in sales in 1985.
In 1986, Red Apple purchased 36 Gristedes supermarkets and 11 affiliated Charles & Co. specialty-food stores from the Southland Corporation.
19 October 1939, Atlanta (GA) Constitution, pg. 2, col. 7 ad:
BIG APPLE
SUPER MARKET
794 MARIETTA ST., N. W.
4 June 1972, New York (NY) Times, “News of the Realty Trade: Leases Signed On Three Floors,” pg. R10, col. 8:
Red Apple Store
Broadway Red Apple Supermarket, Inc., has leased the 6,500-square-foot store at 2285 Broadway, between 82d and 83d Streets, for 15 years at an aggregate rental of about $900,000.
John Catsimatidis, the company president, said Red Apple hoped to open the store by August. The two-sgtory building is owned by Lori-Zee Corporation.
31 August 1997, Atlanta (GA) Constitution, “Obituaries: Sam Alterman, 83, helped found Food Giant, Alterman Foods” by Brian J. Back, pg. C10, col. 3:
Sam Alterman, 83, one of five brothers who operated the Big Apple and Food Giant grocery chains that once commanded nearly one-third of Georgia’s retail grocery business, died from heart failure Tuesday at his Atlanta residence.
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In 1939, Mr. Alterman and four of his five brothers launched the retail grocery business, Alterman Foods Inc., and the industry in Georgia was on its way to being revolutionized.
They opened the first supermarket in Atlanta, the Red Star on Marietta Street, said his brother, Max Alterman of Atlanta.
The store later became known as Big Apple because the name Red Star was similar to that of its biggest competitor, Big Star.
The company eventually sold off its Big Apple stores and gave all of its new supermarkets a name that set them apart from the others—-Food Giant.
Reporter Newspapers
Posted by Reporter Newspapers on March 21, 2008.
Alterman cousins maintain family’s roots in the food business
By John Schaffner
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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L. Alterman & Son, located at 135 Piedmont Rd., started as a wholesale food operation and developed — by the time the company was sold outside the family in 1980 — into a supermarket chain of 110 Big Apple and Food Giant stores, headquartered and operated out of Atlanta.
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In 1949, the family opened its first retail store on Marietta Street: the Big Apple. By 1968, the company went public on the American Stock Exchange with about 20 stores. “When I came out of college in 1972, they had 40 supermarkets; when we sold it in 1980, we had 101,” Bruce says. Seventy-five to 80 of the 101 stores were in the five-county Atlanta area. They were Food Giant and Big Apple. Then they became Big Apple Discount, a new trend of the times.
(Trademark)
Word Mark BIG APPLE SUPER MARKETS
Goods and Services (EXPIRED) IC 042. US 101. G & S: RETAIL GROCERY STORE SERVICES. FIRST USE: 19390817. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19390817
Mark Drawing Code (3) DESIGN PLUS WORDS, LETTERS, AND/OR NUMBERS
Design Search Code 05.09.05 - Apples
Serial Number 72222903
Filing Date July 8, 1965
Current Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Registration Number 0813654
Registration Date August 23, 1966
Owner (REGISTRANT) ALTERMAN FOODS, INC. CORPORATION DELAWARE 933 LEE ST. SW. ATLANTA, GA.
Disclaimer THE WORDING “SUPER MARKET” IS DISCLAIMED APART FROM THE MARK AS SHOWN.
Type of Mark SERVICE MARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Affidavit Text SECT 15.
Live/Dead Indicator DEAD
(Trademark)
Word Mark BIG APPLE
Goods and Services (EXPIRED) IC 029 030. US 046. G & S: FRESH EGGS AND COFFEE. FIRST USE: 19390817. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19390817
Mark Drawing Code (5) WORDS, LETTERS, AND/OR NUMBERS IN STYLIZED FORM
Serial Number 71611997
Filing Date March 30, 1951
Current Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Registration Number 0579002
Registration Date August 25, 1953
Owner (REGISTRANT) BIG APPLE SUPER MARKETS, INC. CORPORATION GEORGIA 533 WHITEHALL STREET, S. W. ATLANTA GEORGIA
Assignment Recorded ASSIGNMENT RECORDED
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Affidavit Text SECT 15.
Renewal 1ST RENEWAL 19730825
Live/Dead Indicator DEAD
(Trademark)
Word Mark RED APPLE
Goods and Services IC 042. US 101. G & S: Retail Supermarket Services. FIRST USE: 19730615. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19730615
Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING
Serial Number 73343295
Filing Date December 24, 1981
Current Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Published for Opposition December 7, 1982
Registration Number 1230582
Registration Date March 8, 1983
Owner (REGISTRANT) Red Apple Supermarkets, Inc. CORPORATION NEW YORK 823 ELEVENTH AVENUE New York NEW YORK 10019
Attorney of Record NICHOLAS C KATSORIS
Type of Mark SERVICE MARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Affidavit Text SECT 15. SECT 8 (6-YR). SECTION 8(10-YR) 20130228.
Renewal 2ND RENEWAL 20130228
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE