Norwalk, Conn, October 10, 2003 - To help make holiday gift giving even easier, Stew Leonard’s has launched a new web site for the store’s gift center, www.stewleonardsgifts.com. The site is designed to be easier to browse and find gifts at any price range, as well as provide faster checkout. Additionally, Stew Leonard’s gift center is accessible by www.stewleonardsgifts.com and 1-800-SAY-STEW (729-7839).
Stew Leonard’s Gifts by Mail is also available in catalog form, which can be picked up for free at any Stew Leonard’s store or ordered from the Gift Center. The 2003 Holiday Gifts By Mail catalog features 40 different gift options ranging from fruit and cheese baskets, sweet and savory snack baskets, decorative tins and festive gift towers. Some new and most popular items include:
• Exclusive Cow Stackem: Stew Leonard’s, the “World’s
Largest Dairy Store,” is known for their lovable mascot, WOW the Cow.
This handmade “stackem” in the shape of a cow is a fun alternative
to a gift tower. It includes three layers filled with
chocolate covered bing cherries, assorted hard candy and toffees, pistachios,
butter toasted peanuts, cashews, milk chocolate drops and after dinner mints
for $39.99.
• Sweet Treats Basket: The number-one selling basket, priced at $29.99,
is brimming with goodies that are easy to share with co-workers and friends.
Includes Stew Leonard's chocolate chip cookies, butter toasted peanuts, caramel
popcorn, butter mints, vanilla and chocolate caramels and chocolate truffles.
• Jumbo Fruit & Cheese Basket: Full of fruit fresh from the farm
and gourmet cheeses, Stew’s basket is twice as big as the leading national
fruit basket (9 lbs, 13 oz vs. 4 lbs, 12 oz.), yet costs nearly 30 percent
less ($49.99 vs. $69.99). Includes red delicious, gala and granny smith apples,
grapefruit, Florida oranges, bosc pears, table water crackers, Vermont cheddar
cheese and gouda cheese.
“What sets Stew Leonard’s apart is the fact that we stay hands-on -- all our baskets are packed right at Stew’s, so we can ensure the freshness and quality so every basket that goes out is perfect,” said Beth Leonard Hollis, founder of Bethy’s Bakery and the Gift Center at Stew Leonard’s.
The Gift Center at Stew Leonard’s was founded in 1982 as a result of a customer’s request to send Stew Leonard’s baked goods to his clients during the holiday season. Bethy called it the “Stew’s Choice Basket” and the gift center was born.
The holidays are the gift center’s busiest time, with more than 2,000 visitors a day to the online gift center. From November through January, the gift center ships out more than 100,000 items, in Stew Leonard’s recognizable “cow-motif” box.
Another feature of the gift center is corporate gifts. Companies can have their logo printed on a red, white or gold tin and filled with their choice of brownies, chocolate covered and peanut butter filled pretzels and gourmet mixed nuts or snack mix. To have ready in time for the holidays, logo tins should be ordered by November 13, 2003.
Stew Leonard’s was dubbed the “Disneyland of Dairy Stores,” by The New York Times, because of its own milk processing plant, costumed characters, scheduled entertainment, petting zoo and animatronics throughout the store. Unlike traditional grocery stores that sell an average 30,000 items, each Stew Leonard’s store carries only 2,000 items, chosen specifically for their freshness, quality and value. For more information, visit Stew Leonard’s website.