Stew Leonard, the King of Christmas
From its humble beginnings as a small dairy store founded in 1969 with seven employees, Stew Leonard's has grown to become not only the World's Largest Dairy Store, but one of the most renowned grocery stores, a unique family-owned farm fresh food retailer. Stew Jr. grew the company from one retail food store in Norwalk, Connecticut to seven stores across Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, as well as eight family-owned wine stores. They are coming up on being in business for 100 years.
The Scotto Sisters sit down with the man known as the “King of Christmas” to discuss his humble origins and how he grew his empire. Read on for a special gift discount code from Stew!
How did you get into the business?
My family opened Stew Leonard’s in 1969 and, at 15-years-old, I was there stocking shelves. I’ve never had another job! When my father opened the store, we had just seven employees and we sold just eight items, mostly dairy products. My father had been a milk delivery man and it was his dream to build a retail dairy store where children could watch milk being bottled while mothers did their shopping in a farmer's market atmosphere.
What separates your market from the others?
My family’s stores are not only known for farm fresh foods, but also as a fun place for families to shop because of the costumed characters, entertainment, and animatronics throughout the stores. Three of our seven stores even have Stew’s Little Farms, where kids can see goats, lambs, chickens, and ducks. The New York Times even called Stew Leonard’s the “Disneyland of Dairy Stores!” We also have a three-ton granite rock at the front entrance of each of our stores that has our customer service commitment engraved into it:
Rule 1: The Customer Is Always Right!
Rule 2: If The Customer Is Ever Wrong, Reread Rule 1.
In addition to being a great place to shop, Stew Leonard’s is also a great place to work; we were selected to FORTUNE magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work for in America" list for ten consecutive years.
Stew Leonard’s buys direct from farmers, ranchers, and fishermen – many of them are family businesses, just like us. We’re also mainly fresh! Most supermarkets are about 2/3 packaged goods and 1/3 fresh; Stew Leonard’s is the opposite! About 2/3 of the products are fresh at Stew’s, meaning we bring them in fresh or we make them fresh at the stores.
How have you had to adapt during Covid?
We had to bob and weave to keep Stew Leonard’s open every day during the pandemic. But it was our goal to keep Stew Leonard’s the safest place possible to shop and to work. In the stores, we tripled our cleaning efforts and installed two football fields of plexiglass around the registers, in the production areas, and in our Team Members’ cafeterias. We stopped our product sampling and removed any self-serve areas, including our hot and cold buffet bars and “pick your own” areas like bagels, loose pistachios, and olives. (Our stores are slowly starting to bring back product sampling and self-service bars just now, more than 18 months later.) We also saw some other changes to the business: our customers are now totally digital, and all our specials are distributed via email, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Tik Tok. Even our popular FREE ICE CREAM CONE with $100 purchase has been converted to points on our Stew Leonard’s mobile app. Plus, Stew Leonard’s curbside pickup and home delivery business exploded during the pandemic. There was even a change with my Dad! He’s about to turn 92 and he LOVES to visit Stew’s regularly. He especially loves busy days and likes to sit by the Rock at the front entrance and greet customers. But, at his age, he stayed home with my Mom and we delivered their food during Covid. That has NEVER happened in my 50+ years at Stew’s!
Do you have any special products that you are selling?
I am really excited about the new gift boxes that we are selling in our stores and on StewsGifts.com. Each gift box is packed by hand, and it’s filled with our best-selling products, like our freshly roasted coffee, just-popped popcorn, cookies made using my sister Beth’s recipes, Parmigiano-Reggiano imported from Italy, and our Peppermint Bark. I love that you can send a taste of Stew Leonard’s all over the country!
