Consumer >> CEO Interviews >> February 24, 2003
STEW LEONARD JR. is President and Chief Executive Officer of Stew
Leonard's. He grew up in his family's dairy business as a kid
standing on a milk case and cleaning out day-old cream cans. His
father, after receiving a Small Business Administration loan,
built a retail dairy store in 1969 with seven employees and Mr.
Leonard found himself stocking shelves, making ice cream and
working the cash register. Mr. Leonard attended Ithaca College in
New York and graduated with a degree in Accounting in 1976. In
1982, after receiving his MBA from the University of California
at Los Angeles, he was promoted to President. His training was to
work side-by-side with his father in the trenches of this $40
million a year family business. In 1991, Mr. Leonard was promoted
to President and CEO and took over the reins. Stew Leonard's has
taken the fresh dairy concept and expanded into meats, fish,
produce, bakery, cheese and wine. Today, in addition to the
headquarters store in Norwalk, Connecticut, Stew Leonard's has
stores in Danbury, Connecticut, and Yonkers, New York, with a
fourth store planned for 2004. The company has annual sales of
nearly $300 million and employs close to 2,000 people. Mr.
Leonard's management style is built around an acronym for
S.T.E.W. Satisfy the customer, work together as a Team; strive
for Excellence at everything you do; and get the customer to say
WOW. Mr. Leonard is also on the Board of the Connecticut American
Heart Association. Profile
picture of the company as it is now.
Mr. Leonard: My ancestors have been in baking and dairy farming
since the 1600s. They moved
