ORANGE, CONN., Jan. 3, 2005 – Today, Stew Leonard’s files their application with the Town of Orange Planning and Zoning Commission to build a 145,140 square foot food store on the 44-acre property the company owns on Marsh Hill Road (off exit 41 on I-95) in Orange, Connecticut. The application consists of an updated site plan (which, in addition to the food store, includes a 40,000 square foot garden center, an 11,000 square foot restaurant and an in-house training center of 15,000 square feet), a detailed traffic study and an amendment to the zoning regulations to change the site zoning from light industrial to retail.

It has been nine years since Stew Leonard’s initially sought approval for the property they bought in 1996. After the store’s application was denied, the company turned its attention to building a store in Yonkers, New York, which opened in 1999. Stew Leonard’s re-applied in Orange, Conn. in August 2004 with the Inland-Wetlands and Watercourses Commission, and after seven public hearings, the application was approved, with conditions, on November 24, 2004. Filing with the Inland-Wetlands Commission is a necessary first step prior to filing with the Town Planning and Zoning Commission.

Many of the issues that affected the store’s previous attempt to open a store in Orange are addressed in detail as part of the current application.

“The biggest concern among residents is the potential increase in traffic. Stew Leonard’s traffic studies, conducted by Barkan and Mess, found that 76 percent of the traffic will be coming from Route 1 and south, of which the majority – 50 percent – would be coming from I-95. Our application also includes a proposal to complete construction of Edison Road, at the company’s expense, and to install a traffic signal at the intersection of Edison and Marsh Hill Roads,” said Doug Hempstead, Vice President of new store development.

An analysis of future store sales completed by Map Info Thompson, showed that 61 percent of sales will come from Orange and the four towns to the east and west of Orange – Stratford, Milford, West Haven and New Haven, while less than 10 percent of sales will come from the six towns to the north – Shelton, Derby, Ansonia, Woodbridge, Hamden and Seymour. This further corroborates the traffic studies.

By approving the store’s application, the town of Orange can significantly benefit from the more than 400 jobs Stew Leonard’s would create, as well as the $700,000 a year in tax revenues the store would pay. During the store’s construction, Stew Leonard’s would also be providing over 200 jobs and purchasing more than $20 million in goods, equipment and services.

For the first time in 70 years, this barren parcel of land on Marsh Hill Road will once again become a productive economic contributor to the Town of Orange and its residents. The property, once a working farm, will help keep farming viable in Connecticut. That’s because Stew Leonard’s purchases many products grown in the state of Connecticut. The store’s fresh milk is produced on their farm in Ellington, Conn. The majority of their seasonal produce is grown in Connecticut, along with much of the nursery stock sold in the Garden Shops.

“We are a Connecticut based company, and my family’s roots here go back four generations,” said Stew Leonard, Jr. “When we open a store in a community, that community becomes part of our family. We contribute more than $100,000 a year to local charities and schools, give daily food donations to local soup kitchens and food banks, and our Team Members get involved volunteering their time as mentors for school children.”

Stew Leonard’s, a family-owned and operated grocery founded in 1969, has three stores in Norwalk and Danbury, Conn. and Yonkers, NY. with a fourth store planned for 2005 in East Farmingdale, N.Y. The company was named among FORTUNE magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work for in America” for the past three consecutive years. For more information, visit Stew Leonard’s website at www.stewleonards.com.