"THE DISNEYLAND OF DAIRY STORES” ARRIVES FRESH IN NEWINGTON

Stew Leonard’s becomes a Family Destination on the Berlin Turnpike

NEWINGTON, Conn., April 25, 2007 –When Stew Leonard’s opens its doors on Saturday, May 5th at 8:00 A.M. on the Berlin Turnpike in Newington customers will be greeted by the Farm Fresh Five –dancing animatronic milk cartons that sing about how fun it is to shop at this Disneyland of Dairy Stores, where the food is fresh, the prices are low and the customer is always right.

“We are thrilled to be opening our first store in eight years here in Newington,” says Stew Leonard, Jr., President and CEO of this family owned and operated fresh food store whose roots in the dairy business go back to 1920 when his family founded the Norwalk Dairy Company. His father, Stew Leonard, Sr., opened the first Stew Leonard’s retail dairy store in 1969 in Norwalk, Connecticut, and the company has since expanded to Danbury, Connecticut and Yonkers, New York, all while never wavering from their original mission: To create happy customers. “If this new store is filled with happy customers, it will make my Mom and Dad proud.”

What makes customers happy shopping at Stew Leonard’s is being able to buy the freshest food – 80 percent of which is made right in front of their eyes or brought in that day from farms, ranches and piers – at a great price, because Stew Leonard’s buys direct so there is no middleman. Customer service is also a cornerstone of shopping at Stew Leonard’s. The company policy is literally set in stone on a giant three-ton rock at the store’s entrance: “Rule 1: The Customer is Always right! Rule 2: If the Customer is Ever Wrong, Re-Read Rule 1!”

For food lovers, Stew Leonard’s is culinary theater. Upon entering the Newington store, customers head straight into a giant Farmers Market, brimming with baskets of just-picked produce, much of which arrives straight from local farms during the summer and fall season. The wonderful aroma of fresh-brewed coffee assaults your senses next, emanating from the hundreds of varieties of coffee beans brought in from all over the world being roasted right in the store.

The in-store bakery, which was started by Stew’s sister Beth after she completed an apprenticeship in Paris, takes pride in making their breads and baked goods from scratch in the Old World style, without any preservatives. Artisan bakers who have been at work since 3:00 A.M., pull crusty loaves of Country Hearth bread form the oven, while bagels placed in their bins are still hot from the oven. The tortilleria is busy churning out fresh tortillas, while fresh juice is being squeezed right before your eyes.

You understand how Stew Leonard’s came up with the slogan, “You’d have to own a cow to get fresher milk,” since they truly do own their own cows, on a dairy farm in Ellington, Connecticut, and their milk is processed and packaged in the heart of Stew Leonard’s Norwalk store. Customers can literally buy milk that has gone from farm to shelf in as little as six hours, at a $1.59 for a half gallon of low fat milk.

In the specialty cheese shop, you watch a master mozzarella maker pull and stretch the cheese until it is just the right consistency; he asks if you would like to taste a sample while it’s still warm. At the deli counter, a team member gives your child a piece of turkey to eat while your order is being filled.

The meat department features a large selection of beef from the best cattle ranchers in America’s heartland. All beef is custom-cut daily by one of Stew Leonard’s 30 expertly trained butchers, like 15 year team member and department manager Jamie Distefano, who is happy to share the grilling tips he learned during one of his visits to the ranches, while trimming one of Stew’s famous $6.99 a pound fork-tender filet mignons for you. As you approach the 50-foot fresh seafood bar, featuring more than 30 varieties of fresh-caught fish delivered every morning from the piers in Boston and New York, the fish monger pulls a lobster out of the tank and asks your children if they would like to pet it.

Next you come to the store’s gourmet food court where Executive Chef Chaz Fable -- a 15 year Stew Leonard’s veteran -- and his team of 40 chefs, are busy preparing more than 100 different regional and international dishes to be served on the buffet in the state-of-the-art open kitchen. Many of the top-selling recipes have been handed down from generation to generation in the Leonard family, and were originally brought to the store by Stew’s mom, Marianne Leonard. Sushi makers are at work hand-rolling their California Rolls, while in the barbeque you can’t resist tasting the kettle-style potato chips being handmade before you.

If all this food shopping has made you hungry, not to worry. As a result of listening to their customers, the Newington store will be the first Stew Leonard’s to offer a 200-seat mezzanine dining area that is the perfect place to enjoy lunch or dinner while watching people shop throughout the labyrinth that winds through the entire 113,000 square feet of the store.

You Can’t have a Fun Place to Shop without First Making it a Fun Place to Work
The secret to why Stew Leonard’s is such a fun place to shop is largely due to the stores’ team members. Creating a fun work environment and opportunities for growth is why Stew Leonard’s has been on FORTUNE magazine’s list of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” for the past six consecutive years and is one of Connecticut’s 100 largest employers.

“Almost 90 percent of Stew Leonard’s managers have been promoted from within the company, and the Newington store is a perfect example of that.  Eighty of the team members joining the Newington team were promoted from our other store locations, and represent 750 years of experience,” said Stew’s sister Jill Leonard Tavello, Executive Vice President of Culture and Communication at Stew Leonard’s and who helps perpetuate the Stew Leonard’s culture, built around an acronym for S.T.E.W.:  Satisfy the customer, Teamwork gets it done, Excellence makes it better and Wow makes it fun.

A Commitment to the Community
Stew Leonard’s is not just a place to shop. It also is a partner in the community through charitable donations, like their annual turkey donation where hundreds of churches, civic groups and schools receive turkeys for Thanksgiving dinners. All bakery products not sold the day they are baked go to local soup kitchens. Team members also get involved by volunteering as mentors in schools and serving on community boards. The store also offers free nutrition tours of Stew Leonard’s for young school children.

Through their non-profit foundation, Stew Leonard III Children’s Charities, more than $1 million dollars has been raised to go towards water safety awareness and education, and three storybooks for children have been published, including: Stewie the Duck Learns to Swim, Swimming Lessons with Stewie the Duck and The Healthy Way.

The Newington store is located at 3475 Berlin Turnpike and will be open from 8:00 A.M. until 10:00 P.M., seven days a week (closed Christmas Day). Stew Leonard’s other stores are located in Norwalk and Danbury, Conn. and Yonkers, NY., with additional stores planned in Orange, Conn. and East Farmingdale, N.Y. For more information, visit Stew Leonard’s website at www.stewleonards.com.

Click here for additional facts on our Newington Store.