NEW YORK -- Red Apple Cos. here has agreed to sell an unspecified number of stores to Rite-Aid Corp., Camp Hill, Pa., according to John Catsimatidis, Red Apple chairman.
Red Apple, a privately held company, operates 63 Sloan's and Gristedes Markets in the metropolitan area. Rite-Aid is expected to convert the acquired locations to drug stores.
Catsimatidis, who also is chairman of Sloan's Supermarkets here, declined to discuss the status of separate talks between Sloan's Supermarkets and Rite-Aid about the possible sale of some of the 11 stores owned by Sloan's.
Sloan's Supermarkets, as reported, said earlier this month it had begun discussions with an unnamed buyer. Red Apple is a major shareholder of Sloan's Supermarkets, a public company.
According to trade observers, Sloan's Supermarkets is expected to reach an agreement to sell some stores to Rite-Aid in the next few weeks. Officials of Rite-Aid could not be reached for comment.
The prospective sale comes in the wake of a Federal Trade Commission antitrust lawsuit, which claims that Red Apple has too high a store concentration in certain neighborhoods.
Catsimatidis said he was in "ongoing negotiations" with the FTC.
Asked whether the sale of an unspecified number of stores would end the dispute with the FTC, Catsimatidis said, "We feel it will be a contributing factor."
