Rick Olivieri, of Rick’s Steaks, son of Pat Olivieri of Pat’s Steaks in South Philly, has reached a settlement with the Reading Terminal. He has until Oct. 31, 2008 to vacate the premises. Not the settlement he was hoping for. The Reading Terminal wanted to replace Rick’s with Tony Luke’s, another popular and one of the best cheesesteak joint.
From a marketing standpoint, this kind of a move isn’t a move at all. It does kind of smack of something personal rather than contractual.
A spokesman for the Reading Terminal management, Kevin Feeley, disputed Olivieri’s claim that the eviction was retaliation for Olivieri’s work as head of the merchants’ group. ‘It’s a convenient story line but that’s not the way it happened,’ said Feeley.
So Rick’s is out of the Reading Terminal, where he has been since 1982. He’ll reopen once he finds a spot.
