As the saying goes “If you love do what you do, you never have to work a day in your life”
Gregory C. Papalexis, whose Sabrett hot dogs are as much a part of New York City as soft pretzels and yellow taxicabs, died Friday. He was 86.
Mr. Papalexis was president, CEO and chairman of Marathon Enterprises Inc., a supplier of hot dogs, buns, onion sauce and other foodstuffs, and the owner of the Sabrett trademark.
The privately held Marathon Enterprises also supplies franks to Papaya King and Gray’s Papaya restaurants, among others. They sell more than 35 million pounds of hot dogs a year.
Mr. Papalexis was “the single biggest hot dog lover in the world,” said his son-in-law, Mark Rosen, Marathon Enterprises’ vice president of sales. Mr. Papalexis enjoyed Sabrett beef franks four or five days a week, his daughter and son-in-law said.
Until retiring two years ago, Mr. Papalexis was more often at his manufacturing operations in the Bronx than at corporate headquarters in NJ. He was a stickler who “controlled every frankfurter that went out on the streets,” his son-in-law said.
Mr. Papalexis’ daughter, Nikki Rosen, also a company executive, said her father focused on the buns. “His were light, airy and fluffy,” she said. Mr. Papalexis’ philosophy: If customers fill up on the bun, they won’t have room for a second (or third) hot dog. [North Jersey.com]
