Stew Leonard Jr. (born 1954) is an American businessman who has been president and CEO of

Stew Leonard's Stew Leonard's is a regional chain of seven supermarkets in Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey, which '' Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' deemed "The World's Largest Dairy" and '' Fortune'' magazine listed as one of the "100 Best Companies to W ...

, a supermarket chain based in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

and New York, since 1991.

Early life

Stew Leonard Jr. was born in 1954 to Marianne (née Guthman) and Stew Leonard Sr. He comes from a long line of family members in the dairy business. His grandfather, Charles Leo Leonard, founded Clover Farms Dairy in

Norwalk, Connecticut , image_map = Fairfield County Connecticut incorporated and unincorporated areas Norwalk highlighted.svg , mapsize = 230px , map_caption = Location in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Fairfield County and ...

in the 1920s. The elder Leonard and his sons would deliver milk door-to-door straight from the farm. When Charles Leonard died, the business passed to Stew Leonard Sr., who wanted to move beyond being a milkman. Stew Leonard Sr. would then open the original Stew Leonard's dairy store in Norwalk in 1969. Stew Leonard Jr. often worked in that original dairy store as a child, washing out milk cans, loading egg shelves, and performing other basic tasks. Leonard graduated from

Staples High School Staples High School is a public high school located in the town of Westport, Connecticut, United States. Staples High School is named after Horace Staples, who founded the school on April 26, 1884. Westport is one of eight school districts in Dis ...

in Westport, Connecticut in 1972. Leonard later attended

Ithaca College Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca, New York. It was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music and is set against the backdrop of the city of Ithaca (which is separate from the town), Cayuga Lake, waterfalls, and go ...

, earning a Bachelor of Science in Accounting in 1977. He continued his education at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

's Anderson School of Management, where he earned a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

in 1982.

Career

Stew Leonard Jr. first took over the helm of Stew Leonard's in 1991, after his father Stew Leonard Sr. was charged with a $17 million tax fraud by the IRS. At the time, there was some major concern about Stew Leonard Jr.'s ability to continue the success that the chain had experienced under his father. The first few years were turbulent under Stew Leonard Jr., but he quickly turned it around. The store in Norwalk was earning less than $100 million in 1991, but, by 2002, Leonard had helped increase sales to $300 million with 3 stores. Leonard attributes the success of the company to its emphasis on

customer service Customer service is the assistance and advice provided by a company to those people who buy or use its products or services. Each industry requires different levels of customer service, but in the end, the idea of a well-performed service is that ...

and employee care. Under Stew Leonard Jr., the grocery store chain has also been recognized as one of the best places to work in the nation. 82% of all managers are promoted from within, and Stew Leonard's frequently applies

positive reinforcement In behavioral psychology, reinforcement is a consequence applied that will strengthen an organism's future behavior whenever that behavior is preceded by a specific antecedent stimulus. This strengthening effect may be measured as a higher freq ...

to boost employee morale. In 1999, Stew Leonard spearheaded the opening of a store in

Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as enu ...

. The store continued the "Disneyesque" theme, but it also housed the first Stew Leonard's Wines store. By 2014, Leonard had helped grow the business to four grocery stores. Additionally, there are 9 wine stores across Connecticut, New York, and

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, each of which is independently owned and operated by family members. The food and wine stores cumulatively employ 2,000 people and approach $400 million in sales per year. This is despite the fact that the company (proudly) offers only 2,000 items, a large majority of which is perishable and prepared food. The success of these business principles has gained Stew Leonard Jr. a significant degree of respect in the retail industry. Stew Leonard's Wines was also recognized by '' Wine Enthusiast Magazine'' as the Retailer of the Year in 2011 and 2013. Leonard is a prominent public speaker and is featured as one of the top orators at the prestigious

Washington Speakers Bureau Omnicom Group Inc. is an American global media, marketing and corporate communications holding company, headquartered in New York City. Omnicom's branded networks and specialty firms provide services in four disciplines: advertising, customer re ...

Philanthropy

Leonard and his wife, Kim, founded the Stew Leonard III Children's Charities, which offers swimming lessons to thousands of underprivileged youths each year. They have also released a series of children's books about water safety that feature the character, Stewie the Duck. In 2012, they released an app version of the children's book with Stewie the Duck at the forefront. A program featuring the character has been used by firefighters in

Rialto, California Rialto is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States, 56 miles east of Los Angeles, near the Cajon Pass, Interstate 15, Interstate 10, State Route 210 and Metrolink routes. Its population was 104,026 as of the 2020 Census, u ...

and employees at a children's hospital in Phoenix, Arizona to teach children about water safety.

Personal life

Leonard married Kim Kral in 1983. They met while attending college together at UCLA. Together, they had five children: four daughters and one son. Their son, Stew "Stewie" Leonard III, drowned at the age of 21 months in 1989.

Awards

Leonard was awarded the Dale Carnegie Leadership Award.

References

External links

Stew Leonard's Grocery Store
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leonard, Stew Jr. Date of birth missing (living people) 1954 births Living people Ithaca College alumni UCLA Anderson School of Management alumni American retail chief executives American chief executives of food industry companies