Grocer caught in legal stew

Stew Leonard's Farmingdale, N.Y., site on hold

NORWALK, Conn.-A legal dispute over the land has forced family-owned dairy and grocery business Stew Leonard's to halt construction of its planned new store in East Farmingdale, N.Y., on Long Island.

The store would be the fourth for Stew Leonard's, which has stores in Norwalk and Danvers, Conn., and Yonkers, N.Y.

Stew Leonard's, founded as a dairy store in 1969 by Stew Leonard Jr.'s father, has taken its fresh dairy legacy and expanded into meats, fish, produce, bakery, cheese and wine. Unlike traditional grocery stores that sell an average 30,000 items, each Stew Leonard's store carries about 2,000 items, chosen specifically for their freshness, quality and value, said Meghan Flynn, vice president of public relations for Stew Leonard's.

The argument in Farmingdale is between the developer Fairchild Corp. and the State of New York Office of General Services. At issue is who owns a 6-acre section of a 19-acre site that was previously owned by the state.

With local approvals in hand, Stew Leonard's had already completed site preparation for the 125,000 square-foot store, poured the foundation and had steel delivered when the dispute arose in early June.

Store owner Stew Leonard Jr. and his team are taking a wait-and-see approach to the delay, said Flynn. The dispute is between Fairchild and the state, she said, and there's nothing Stew Leonard's can do until it is resolved. She said the team figures the unexpected delay will give them more time to better prepare for the opening when the time comes.

When that will occur, no one knows, she said. It could be as long six months to a year, she speculated, and perhaps the new store planned for Orange, Conn., would open first.

The Orange, Conn., location, where Stew Leonard's plans a 150,000 square-foot store, is not without its own challenges. Groups both in favor and against a Stew Leonard's store have created a hullabaloo in town, with allegations by both groups of stolen lawn signs and plenty of finger-pointing, according to a story in the Orange Bulletin, the local newspaper. A New Haven Register poll conducted in April, however, revealed that almost three-quarters of the city's residents support Leonard building a store in town.

Flynn said Stew Leonard's is awaiting rezoning of the site from industrial to retail, and has not yet picked a date to start construction at the Orange site.

Stew Leonard's has grown its annual sales to nearly $300 million. Together the three stores employ about 2,000 people.

Flynn describes Stew Leonard's as a "super farmer's market and amusement park." The amusement part comes from the characters, such as Cindy Celery and Clover, the cow, that stage performances for children and adults, too.

"People really like it because it's a destination," Flynn said.

The New York Times dubbed Stew Leonard's the "Disneyland of Dairy Stores" because of its own milk processing plant, costumed characters, scheduled entertainment and petting zoo.

Most of the 2,000 items in the store are made on the premises-such as the mozzarella cheese, breads and desserts-or brought in fresh daily.

"We don't have 20 varieties of tomato sauce," said Flynn. Stew Leonard's concentrates on its private labels and perhaps on one or two more offerings in each category, she said. The store includes a coffee bar, offers freshly squeezed juice and, of course, fresh dairy products. Stew Leonard's has 1,000 cows that supply the stores with fresh milk seven days a week.

Customer service is a hallmark of Stew Leonard's, said Flynn, and there's a 3-ton rock at the entrance with an inscription that declares "the customer is always right."

It's a pretty good place to work, too, Flynn said. Stew Leonard's ranked on Fortune Magazine s "100 Best Companies to Work for in America" list for the last three years.

Copyright United Publications, Inc. Aug 2004
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