Early Life
Catsimatidis grew up in New York, NY after coming to the United States as an infant with his parents from the island of Nisyros, Greece. He graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1966.
While pursuing a BS in electrical engineering at New York University (NYU), Catsimatidis worked for an uncle in a small supermarket on 137th Street. Catsimatidis ultimately dropped out of college, and in 1971, convinced he could make money in the grocery business, he opened his first store on Manhattan's Upper West Side at 99th Street and Broadway under the name "Seven Eleven" (which was not part of the similarly named franchise). Soon afterwards he opened a Red Apple supermarket on 87th street just west of Broadway.
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