NEW YORK -- Drug store chain Duane Reade here said it will purchase eight Manhattan Gristedes supermarkets and convert them into drug stores. Terms of the deal, which is expected to be completed by the end of June, were not disclosed. John Catsimatidis, chairman of Gristedes, declined to identify the stores that were sold but told SN they were among the chain‘s 43 currently operating stores. “The intrinsic real estate values far exceeded the enterprise value of the business,” he said, adding that the company intends to remain in the supermarket business and is building two new stores.
