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Grocery |
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, with annual sales of almost $500 million and more than 2,500 Team Members. In addition to the headquarters store in Norwalk, Conn., Stew Leonard's has stores in Danbury and Newington, Conn.; Yonkers, Farmingdale, and East Meadow, N.Y.; and in Paramus, N.J. Stew Leonard's history can be traced back to the early 1920s, when Charles Leo Leonard started Clover Farms Dairy in Norwalk, Connecticut. It was a state-of-the-art dairy by the standards of the time - with a pasteurizing and bottling plant, and later on, fresh milk delivered daily by trucks that had plastic cows on the front that "mooed" for the neighborhood children. Stew Leonard's has remained a family business. In 1987, Stew Leonard, Jr. - Stew's son - took over the reins and is now President and CEO. Son Tom opened the second Stew Leonard's in Danbury Connecticut in 1991. Stew Leonard’s daughter Beth founded the famous Bethy's Bakery and heads up the Gift Center. Daughter Jill is Vice President of Culture and Communication. The success of this family-owned business and its legion of loyal shoppers is largely due to their passionate approach to customer service: "Rule #1 -- The Customer is Always Right"; Rule #2 - If the Customer is Ever Wro