12 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • OCTOBER 2020
COVER FEATURE
STEW LEONARD’S:
While a chain supermarket might
help shoppers fill their cupboards,
Stew Leonard’s is known for bringing
much more to the table.
The Stew Leonard’s story begins in
the 1920s as Charles Leo Leonard
helped deliver milk from the family’s
dairy in Norwalk, Conn. to local residents.
His two sons, Jim and Stew, took
over in 1960, and they began to build
the home delivery milk business by
their creative use of large plastic cow
heads on the front of their delivery
milk trucks, which made a “moo”
sound for all of the schoolchildren
along the way.
By the mid-1960s, Stew understood
that the days of the milkman
were coming to a close. Like any
adept business leader, he foresaw
the challenges that the industry
faced, and devised a strategy to
bring a new company into the
1970s and beyond. In December
1969, Stew founded Stew Leonard's,
an "eliminate the middleman" dairy
store. It was a 17,000-squarefoot
store carrying just
eight items, but it
had large picture
windows enabling
chi ldren and
customers to buy
their milk while
looking directly
into the spotless,
state-of-the-art
pasteurizing and
bottling plant.
"You'd have to own
a cow to get fresher
milk," was Stew's
slogan.
“In order to own and operate
a business, especially
when you get started, you need to
understand your customer,” said Stew
Leonard Sr. “As parents ourselves, we
knew of the logistical difficulties of
bringing our kids to the grocery to
cross items off our shopping list. This
was my inspiration."
Two weeks after Stew Leonard’s
grand opening in 1969, Stew was
standing at the front door of the
store greeting customers. It was then,
though, that a customer returned a
product that changed the business
model for the Stew Leonard’s patrons
have come to know.
“A customer came into
our store and claimed
that our eggnog was
sour,” he said. “I knew
it wasn’t sour — we
had sold hundreds
of half-gallons of
it that day, and she
was the only one
that complained. I
argued with her, and
it left me with a sour
taste in my mouth. Later that night,
when speaking to my wife, I made the
decision: the customer is always right
and there is simply no use arguing.”
After the purchase of a large block of
granite, there were two rules carved
into the rock and eternally carved
into the hearts and minds of Stew
Leonard Sr. and every employee from
that point forward: “1. The customer
is always right, and 2. If the customer
is wrong, re-read rule one.”
This customer service policy laid
the foundation for business studies,
lectures, and countless accolades. It
became contagious, specifically because
happy customers equal happy
Team Members, and happy customers
and Team Members equal a successful
business.
Since this point, Stew's customer service
rock of commitment sits at the
entranceway of each and every store.
While Stew Leonard Sr. knew that
he had found a winning recipe for
the food store industry, he remained
mostly a Connecticut-centric phenomenon.
People would come from across
New England to shop at his stores, but
it was not until Stew Leonard Jr., his
son, took over the reins that the company
was poised for unprecedented
success in the 21st century.
Stew Leonard Jr., the oldest Leonard
son, had grown up in his father’s store.
He had watched the company grow
from a one-room dairy to a larger food
store offering meat, produce, fish and
more. As of 2019, after 50 years in
business, the company which bears
his name remains family owned, but
has expanded across three states with
3,000 employees, and accounts for a
whopping $500 million a year in sales.
Stew Sr.’s daughter, Beth Leonard
Hollis, started Stew Leonard’s
in-store bakery when
she began selling
freshly made
croissants in
“At Stew Leonard’s, we are so much more than a
grocery, but a family, with our Team Members and
staff, and that we think is irreplaceable,”
said Stew Leonard Jr.
L. to R.: Kim Leonard and Stew Leonard Jr. tout their anti-drowning initiative. (Photo by Jennifer Uihlein)
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