Roosevelt Island Gristedes Supermarket Chain Owner John Catsimatidis Hosts Sunday Radio Talk Show Too - Discusses Immigration, Iranian Nuclear Weapons, Outer Space Development, Presidents Obama/Clinton Comparison, Japanese Economy & More

Image Of John Catsimatidis From The Cats Roundtable

Roosevelt Island Gristedes Supermarket chain owner, real estate developer, billionaire oilman, former NYC Mayoral candidate and entrepreneur John Catsimatidis is also host of a Sunday morning radio talk show - the Cats Round Table on AM 970.

Yesterday's November 23 Cats Roundtable discussed:

• President Obama's immigration executive action,
• Iranian Nuclear Weapons and the Middle East,
• comparisons between President Obama and President Clinton,
• Outer Space Developments, 
• the Japanese Economy and
• national politics

with guests,

• Herbert London, President Emeritus Of the Hudson Insitute,
• Former House Speaker and Republican Presidential Candidate Newt Gingrich
• Bob Jacobs, Senior NASA Spokesperson,
• Dr. Mireya Solis, Brookings Center and
• Former Senator Evan Bayh, Co Chair Of No Labels political foundation

Here's the Cats Roundtable from November 23,



Also, the Commercial Observer recently interviewed Mr. Catsimatidis about his various business interests including the Gristedes supermarket chain:

... Overall, how is the Gristedes franchise is doing?

It’s doing okay. It represents less than two or three percent of our company’s sales.

So why still own it?

Some of the people have been with us for 30 years and I’m keeping it for them so they don’t lose their jobs. And if I didn’t have Gristedes, I’d live 10 years longer and I would probably be worth more. Our main businesses are energy and real estate. And we’ve dwindled our businesses in aviation.

What I’m talking about is what’s happening in New York. It’s becoming very competitive. And it’s a big problem. The big problem is we had Whole Foods open up big stores. We had Costco open up. We had Fresh Direct open up. We had Amazon open up. We had Trader Joe’s open up. We had every drugstore in the city [become] a supermarket, just about. So the competition is not like it’s ever been before. And we are fully unionized. And our full-timers get $10 an hour in just benefits. So how do you make that work? And every lease that we have to re-up; it’s a minimum million-dollars-a-year rent. It’s the pressure of the real estate. The pressure of electric rates in New York City. The pressure of paying union charges and union work weeks. And it becomes like, try to win with one hand tied behind your back.

Here's Mr. Catsimatidis at the March 2013 Grand Re-Opening of the Roosevelt Island Gristedes and 2012 Roosevelt Island Gristedes Town Hall Meeting.