A carpenter by trade, Gerry Ryan has grown his retail construction business”™s base from 66 jobs in 2008 to 161 last year.
The president and CEO of Mount Vernon-based DGC Capital Contracting Corp. is also a partner in Rogue Bar and Restaurant in Manhattan and Molly Spillane”™s Bar and Restaurant in Mamaroneck. Ryan commits his downtime to board membership in Community Mutual Savings Bank in White Plains.
In a construction industry pummeled by the recession, he has managed to buck the trend. DGC was retained for work at Bloomingdale”™s, Lord & Taylor and Donna Karan for Fashion”™s Night Out on Sept. 8. Companies like Walgreen”™s, JP Morgan Chase, The Gap, Ann Taylor and Century 21 Department Stores use DGC for remodeling work and new-builds.
In a recent interview, Ryan talked of a “paradigm shift” in his business. Following are edited excerpts:
A strong client of yours is Starbucks. Are developers eyeing more standalone or mixed-use locations?
Ryan: “It depends on the region. It also depends on the tenant. Some tenants do well coexisting with others, where other tenants are destination tenants. Like McDonald”™s is a destination tenant. Burger King is a destination tenant. Applebee”™s for the most part is, too. But, coexisting with somebody else obviously brings in business, so I think it depends on what”™s available, the rent, the cost of doing business there ”¦ there”™s a lot of factors that play into that.”
Much of your work has been in grocery ”“ ShopRite, Waldbaum”™s, Stop & Shop. Has that slowed what with the bankruptcy of A&P, etc.?
Ryan: “If you look at the trend, a lot of big-box wholesalers are expanding, such as Costco and BJ”™s. We”™re seeing a tremendous amount of wholesale work going on, but at the same time, the Stop & Shops of the world are still doing good in these areas. So what”™s the real shift? I don”™t think there”™s so much a shift as people are looking for value for their money. Grocery stores are an absolute necessity. It”™s not like a restaurant where you can choose ”“ you don”™t have to go out for something you can buy (in a grocery store).”
What”™s the future of brick-and-mortar? Will online nix demand?
Ryan: “They”™re going to coexist. You”™re still going to have your brick and mortar, but like a Barnes and Noble where you can order that book online, you can also go and pick it up. ”¦ but when it comes to clothing, people still want to have that hands-on feel. The reality of online shopping is that it”™s very convenient and certain stuff can be bought online and you don”™t need to touch it. ”¦ it depends on the type of business ”¦ a certain amount of people will shop online for groceries. Milk is milk. But are they going to take away from brick and mortar? Maybe from the smaller stores, but not really from the larger stores. People will still continue to shop in supermarkets.”
The next few years in commercial construction?
Ryan: “It”™s getting better. There”™s definitely more activity and the retail world has definitely shown signs of improvement. I would think there”™d be a moderate growth over the next couple of years. ”¦ I honestly believe from here forward, whoever is the best at their business is the one that”™s going to be successful and sustainable and that”™s key.”
Waldbaum’s is owned by the same parent as A&P supermarkets, which means Waldbaum’s technically is bankrupt.