November 20, 2008
Stew Leonard’s: The Disneyland of Supermarkets
By Tom
Ryan
Stew
Leonard’s was named “Retailer of the Year” by the Connecticut
Retail Merchants Association. Summing up the grocer’s success, Stew Leonard
Jr., president and CEO, told the Stamford Advocate, “Out
of everything my dad said about being a retailer – and if I had anything
to say about it – God gave us two ears and one mouth. Listen, listen, listen
to the customers and always be accessible.”
The
Norwark, CT retailer has stores in Norwalk, Danbury and Newington in Connecticut
as well as one in Yonkers, NY.
In a review of the chain
on the Modern Baking magazine’s website, Heather Henstock wrote, “the
store is unlike other supermarkets in nearly every way, from its store
layout to its animated merchandising techniques.”
The store’s
fame comes from its innovative in-store marketing, which includes a barn-like
wood decor, a winding path for shoppers instead of straight, parallel aisles,
free samples galore, employees
dressed as farm animals, petting zoos, and
animatronic singing animals perched above the shelving.
“Animatronics
are positioned throughout the store, bringing attention to each department
and creating a fun environment for shoppers,”
the editorial director of the magazine wrote. “At the Newington store,
a parrot sings in produce, milk cartons dance above the dairy case and a
life-size cow greets customers with a ‘moo’ as they enter the store.”
But
Ms. Henstock said, “All the fanfare would only be a gimmick” if
not for its commitment to fresh foods, including an on-site dairy and bakery.
Unlike traditional supermarkets that sell an average of 50,000 items, Stew
Leonard’s stores carry only 2,000 items, according to the company. However,
80 percent of those items are fresh foods, either prepared from scratch
in the store or brought in daily.
“We
love people, we love food and we love fresh food,” founder Stew Leonard
Sr. told the New Britain Herald at the opening of its last 113,000
square foot store in Newington in
May 2007. “Basically, it’s fresh stuff and that’s what differentiates
us from our competition.”
While
Stew Leonard’s may be known for its meat selection, customers can also
find a wide variety of other items as well, including a sushi bar, olive
bar, ready-to-eat meals including pizza, barbecue and salad.
The Connecticut Retail Merchants
Association said
Stew Leonard’s earned the “Retailer of the Year” award based
on several factors, including customer service, employee relations and
community outreach.
The
chain is known for being an innovator in the grocery industry, Mike Berger,
editor of Griffin Report of Food Marketing, told the Stamford
Advocate.
“In my opinion,
they’re the Disneyland of supermarkets,” he said.
Discussion
Questions: To what do you attribute the success of Stew Leonard’s?
What lessons does it hold for other retailers in today’s environment? What
do you think of its potential for expansion?
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It has been years since I visited Stew Leonard’s, but what I remember is that it was fun and full of surprises. And while some may compare it to Disneyland, it wasn’t slick or overdetailed, and that is what made it special. Using a word that is bandied around too much these days, but here it fits: it was authentic.
And here I think are the reasons for this. It looks like Stew Leonard’s listens to its local customers, and gives them what they want and need, just enough product innovation coupled with just enough entertainment and promotion.
Secondly, this is their only store (I think, and even if there are more, there aren’t very many) and so they take care of the store and the customers the way old time stores used to. They are connected, caring, local and responsive.
My in-laws live in Rhode Island and we live in New Jersey, so we go past Stew’s stores several times a year. My 12-year-old daughter is already hooked and asks that we stop to shop and eat at the store either going or coming back from Rhode Island. Interestingly, given the limited number of SKUs, what she likes most is the assortment. Proof that sometimes less is more.
On the potential for expansion, there are many markets that could support the concept. They have to be careful to not overextend themselves and need to maintain both the atmosphere and commitment to quality fresh foods. That said, this is a good time to look for properties–there are a bunch of big boxes sitting empty. A few stores here in Jersey would be a great start from both my personal and business perspective.
If you’ve ever been in Stew Leonard’s, answer a simple question: Have you ever had a bad (or less than wonderful) experience?
The answer is undoubtedly no. Even when it is very crowded (e.g., holidays) the store runs like clockwork, and if it doesn’t, that is very quickly remedied.
Stew Leonard’s does what most retailers fail to do: deliver a consistently valuable but highly engineered customer experience backed up with people, systems and merchandise.
I haven’t been in a Stew Leonard’s yet but from the looks of it, they really take the customer experience seriously. Unique and fun store layouts separate them from other grocers. Associate interaction with customers is huge a win for them as it is virtually non existent in this sector of retail. Makes me want to take a drive down to check them out!
I was able to visit this store last summer and it is, in the best sense, an assault on the senses. Intriguing, interesting, fresh–everything grocery shopping often lacks. As I was standing behind one old guy sampling some fresh cheese he turned to me and said, “I’ve been watchin’ ’em and they’ve raised prices a lot since opening.”
That comment got me wondering how profitable they are with all the overhead and employees at the various shoppes within a shop. It is great to see a retailer taking the long-view though and building an experience for the customers instead of timing their cashiers to save “$15k a year by shaving one second off each transaction” as commented on earlier this week on RetailWire.
80% of shoppers’ time in supermarkets is typically wasted. That waste is driven primarily by two factors: navigational angst (where is the…?) and choice angst (which one of these…?) Stew Leonard has greatly reduced both of these.
The navigational angst is virtually eliminated by having only a single aisle, and though the store is outsized, it is quick to shop, because you enter here–like everyone else–and exit over there–like everyone else, and the whole crowd moves along more or less in concert, without a single wasted thought on how to navigate the store. All attention is given to just what they are there for–buying from what passes by them.
And then, rather than having to select from 100+ choices for everything they buy (on average in other supermarkets,) Stew gives them a reasonable half dozen choices for what they really want, which seems to be about right. (The “long tail,” what there is of it, is in a separate, small “warehouse” area off to the side, as you approach checkout.) This has grown from 800 items in the original store to 2000 presently. However, Lidl and Aldi are knocking it out of the park with 400 and 700 items, and Tesco’s Fresh & Easy will blanket the US with 3500 item stores.
The net result is a vast reduction in wasted time and the store sells FIVE times as much as the competition–$100 million per year for Stew Leonard’s. Of course all the customer service and entertainment helps, but people come to the store to buy, and Stew has removed the barriers from that purpose, while the competition provides long steel canyons for shoppers to navigate, bury what the shoppers clearly want to buy in a sea of irrelevant offers. It’s really not that complicated, if you focus on what the shopper wants.
Stew Leonard is like the poker player who has somehow found a way to manage to always get himself dealt four aces for every hand. After awhile, he convinces himself that he is an outstanding poker player. So everyone is focusing on the great customer service, fresh merchandise, yadda, yadda, yadda. Those things are easier to provide when you are minting money the way Stew is doing. It’s the underlying fundamentals. Since HEB’s Central Market is a virtual knock-off of Stew Leonard’s, I wonder if they know the reasons for their success.
It’s fun instead of a chore! Stew Leonard’s focuses not just on selling groceries but also on entertaining shoppers, making a trip to the supermarket a unique, fun experience. Leonard offers an off Broadway “Sense of Theater” and his associates are great on-stage performers.
The “Leonard Show” can expand only with such an intense production and director–and that’s a tall, tall order.
I first became aware of Stew Leonard’s in 1973-1974 time frame, when we were developing a new corporate headquarters for Dairy Mart in Enfield, Conn. Our Chairman suggested we spend a day at what was then the only location Stew Leonard’s operated.
While it did not have all of the animatronics elements referred to in the article, it did have a petting zoo and a place you could get an ice cream cone. The internal layout was more traditional than it is today. One thing that was very different was that customers could view through a series of glass “walls” a milk production plant creating a sense of theater and entertainment in the purchase process.
However, what I remember most was not the physical plant that Stew Leonard’s chose to do business in, but the overwhelming commitment to servicing the customer. Outside the store was a “rock” upon which were the rules they operated by. Rule 1: The customer is always right. Rule 2: If the customer is ever wrong, reread Rule 1.
I believe that the food industry–supermarkets, c-stores, restaurants–have learned a lot about the use of theater since then, but without keeping those two key rules, customers soon do a “thumbs down” on any business.
Stew Leonard’s has undoubtedly created an engaging shopping environment. Its serpentine layout is very effective to the extent that it seems to encourage impulse buys. Most important of all, however, is that their product quality and pricing,combined with an interesting shopping experience, delivers great value.
I cannot speak to today but their pricing was always sharp when I was a customer. They were not a Whole Foods to be sure. Stew’s is one of many things I miss about the Northeast. And by the way, Ronald Reagan recognized Stew Sr. for his outstanding retail practices 25 years ago.
Most grocery stores are more or less functional. The management at Stew Leonard’s must long ago have recognized that to succeed they needed to go beyond basic function. Whether they use the language or not, it’s clear that they focus their business on the Total Customer Experience.
It’s not just about price, product selection, reasonable check-out lines or even product quality–though they score high in all those. A shopping trip to Stew’s addresses all your senses (and those of your kid’s too). It’s about the smell of the bakery as you enter, the taste of the free samples, the sight of the diary line, the sounds of the singing animals, the smile of the deli clerk, the guarantee that the customer comes first, and so on.
Certainly they have to meet the basic functional requirement as well but shoppers do literally drive for miles (and past dozens of other grocery stores) to come to Stew Leonard’s. They deliver an experience with value to the senses in categories that other grocers haven’t even begun to consider. It keeps customers coming back.
On the expansion question, just a note that Stew has expanded into wine. There are now three Stew Leonard’s Wines and Spirits stores in Connecticut, two in New York and two in New Jersey. I enjoyed my one visit to the Paramus, NJ store but was not bowled over. There’s very little of the merchandising panache that they’re famous for–a few token samples; some colorful signage.
That said, the prices are good and the store is conveniently organized by country. There are lots of specials and recommendations, which is helpful to the non-oenophile. The one bit of “fun” is the regular appearance of celebrities at the stores: Lorraine Braco, Mario Bitali, etc. for tastings, book signings and the like. Would love to see a more bacchanalia spin on things. Seems like there’s so much potential, what with Stew Jr.’s love of retail theater.
One shouldn’t be surprised st Stew’s success. The store is different and entertaining. I understand that employees of the company have attended Walt Disney School of Marketing. That the store looks the way it does, is not coincidental (think of Bear Country Jamboree).
As another writer observed, a customer is forced to travel the entire store. I heard another story about selling strawberries and cherries loose instead of in pre-packaged quarts and doubling or tripling the sales–in spite of spoilage–because the customer wasn’t weighing the product and buying more. The produce is fresh and attractive, the bakery is fresh and the fish is not hanging around the stores long enough to be old.
The bottom line is that Stew’s has multiple differentiating factors, all of which combine to contribute to the company’s success. Refreshing in an otherwise boring retail environment!
I have never been there, but have done extensive research on them, and we could all learn from their success. Unfortunately, my store is in a very poor area, and Stew’s store is in a fabulous location.
Be that as it may, I still try to present my customers with unique homemade foods they can’t buy at the chain stores. It works to a point, and executing the basics takes care of the rest. All of us wish we had affluent clientele, but if you’re dealt lemons…make lemonade, and that is what we all must do to survive in this brutal economy.
Happy holidays to all.
As many devout supermarket guys had before me, I made the pilgrimage to Stew Leonard’s about ten years ago after reading about it in trade magazines for decades. I visited the altar of food store entertainment and came away suitably impressed. But, I sure wouldn’t want to shop there regularly. Why should shoppers be forced to move in lockstep through the store, single file in a single aisle? Why can’t I dash in for one item and go directly to it rather than having to follow a yellow brick road? And I like choice. I’m not impressed by limited assortment stores. My entertainment is seeing a lot of interesting products rather than seeing animatronic puppets. Leonard’s is like a clean Chuck E. Cheese with fresh groceries. I could only take it a couple of times a year.
As far as expansion, I don’t see Stew adding too many more stores. I think it would dilute their excellence. However, a few more would be nice.
Stew is a great marketer. I like watching the videos of him riding horses around his cattle ranch. A meat employee told me that actually very little meat comes from this ranch, but still some does and believing that it does makes a good impression. It makes you feel a more personal connection to what you are eating.
I noticed that the employees really seem to enjoy working there and they claim to be treated very well. It’s a fun place to shop and there is a lot of interaction with customers. Being privately held allows Stew Leonard’s to be innovative and not held back by Wall Street.
Retailer of the Year in Connecticut? Doesn’t sound like much of an achievement considering the ineffectual competitors like Stop & Shop, Shaw’s, and A&P. However he truly does deserve to be recognized.
Stew Leonards is the best food shopping experience around! Sure, the prices are a bit higher than traditional grocery stores, but I’m willing to pay for the experience, freshly prepared foods and overall atmosphere. The sampling of their prepared dishes has turned me into a loyal shopper.
I have never lived in Southern Connecticut or anywhere near it. I have only been in Stew Leonard’s one time. That was in 1982. I can still describe every detail of the experience to this day. Does that answer the question?
All of those like me that have grown up in or lived in Southern Connecticut know that Stew’s is a destination. The reason they are the highest grossing grocery store per square foot in the world is because people are willing to travel to their stores from afar, something most retail stores do not have the luxury of.
Once in the store, their model is unique in the sense that you walk past every single SKU before checking out. The entertainment factor is what allows you to do that without you or the kids getting bored. This obviously promotes add-on sales and impulse buys.
Having only 2k SKUs also gives Stew’s the luxury of dedicating more square footage to items he wants to display and promote. The merchandise piled high that you have to literally walk around to get through the maze to the checkout makes his favorite items impossible to miss.
I’ve enjoyed reading all the comments here mostly universal in agreement in regards to the power of entertainment and staging. I happen to live near Stew’s Norwalk store and am a frequent shopper there. In addition to the entertainment, part of their success, I believe, is their commitment to the areas that they focus on. In a world where most retailers are trying to be all things to all people, Stew Leonard’s not only has limited skus, but also has a few other things that make them special in consumer’s minds which ties back to Stew Jr’s comment regarding listening to consumers and then delivering on it. They focus on a few areas to make them the best they can possibly be.
It is true that people will drive from miles away to shop at Stew Leonard’s, especially during the holidays. It is almost overwhelming to pull into their parking lot near a holiday and see all the cars and people. And yet, they still make it manageable to shop. Their seafood department sets up a temporary extra counter with extra employees who focus solely on cooked shrimp and crab legs for appetizers. Lemons and cocktail sauce are right next to it. It is amazing to witness the speed at which they are able to service customers and get them on their way.
At Christmas-time they set up a dedicated area outside the store (at other times of the year this space is used for gardening products and plants). They run the process of selecting the family Christmas tree like a well-oiled machine. You have a multitude of employees to help you select your tree which you receive a ticket for. As you head to the checkout, you enjoy another winding one-lane experience in which you can choose lights, lawn ornaments, decorations, extension cords, etc. You then get in your car and get into the “drive-through” line. Your tree has gone through a machine that shaves off a fresh stump and bundles it with twine. Employees are waiting for you as you drive up to expertly attach the tree to the roof of your car and you are on your way.
The consumer experience hands-down has all these devotees returning again and again.
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It has been years since I visited Stew Leonard’s, but what I remember is that it was fun and full of surprises. And while some may compare it to Disneyland, it wasn’t slick or overdetailed, and that is what made it special. Using a word that is bandied around too much these days, but here it fits: it was authentic.
And here I think are the reasons for this. It looks like Stew Leonard’s listens to its local customers, and gives them what they want and need, just enough product innovation coupled with just enough entertainment and promotion.
Secondly, this is their only store (I think, and even if there are more, there aren’t very many) and so they take care of the store and the customers the way old time stores used to. They are connected, caring, local and responsive.
My in-laws live in Rhode Island and we live in New Jersey, so we go past Stew’s stores several times a year. My 12-year-old daughter is already hooked and asks that we stop to shop and eat at the store either going or coming back from Rhode Island. Interestingly, given the limited number of SKUs, what she likes most is the assortment. Proof that sometimes less is more.
On the potential for expansion, there are many markets that could support the concept. They have to be careful to not overextend themselves and need to maintain both the atmosphere and commitment to quality fresh foods. That said, this is a good time to look for properties–there are a bunch of big boxes sitting empty. A few stores here in Jersey would be a great start from both my personal and business perspective.
If you’ve ever been in Stew Leonard’s, answer a simple question: Have you ever had a bad (or less than wonderful) experience?
The answer is undoubtedly no. Even when it is very crowded (e.g., holidays) the store runs like clockwork, and if it doesn’t, that is very quickly remedied.
Stew Leonard’s does what most retailers fail to do: deliver a consistently valuable but highly engineered customer experience backed up with people, systems and merchandise.
I haven’t been in a Stew Leonard’s yet but from the looks of it, they really take the customer experience seriously. Unique and fun store layouts separate them from other grocers. Associate interaction with customers is huge a win for them as it is virtually non existent in this sector of retail. Makes me want to take a drive down to check them out!
I was able to visit this store last summer and it is, in the best sense, an assault on the senses. Intriguing, interesting, fresh–everything grocery shopping often lacks. As I was standing behind one old guy sampling some fresh cheese he turned to me and said, “I’ve been watchin’ ’em and they’ve raised prices a lot since opening.”
That comment got me wondering how profitable they are with all the overhead and employees at the various shoppes within a shop. It is great to see a retailer taking the long-view though and building an experience for the customers instead of timing their cashiers to save “$15k a year by shaving one second off each transaction” as commented on earlier this week on RetailWire.
80% of shoppers’ time in supermarkets is typically wasted. That waste is driven primarily by two factors: navigational angst (where is the…?) and choice angst (which one of these…?) Stew Leonard has greatly reduced both of these.
The navigational angst is virtually eliminated by having only a single aisle, and though the store is outsized, it is quick to shop, because you enter here–like everyone else–and exit over there–like everyone else, and the whole crowd moves along more or less in concert, without a single wasted thought on how to navigate the store. All attention is given to just what they are there for–buying from what passes by them.
And then, rather than having to select from 100+ choices for everything they buy (on average in other supermarkets,) Stew gives them a reasonable half dozen choices for what they really want, which seems to be about right. (The “long tail,” what there is of it, is in a separate, small “warehouse” area off to the side, as you approach checkout.) This has grown from 800 items in the original store to 2000 presently. However, Lidl and Aldi are knocking it out of the park with 400 and 700 items, and Tesco’s Fresh & Easy will blanket the US with 3500 item stores.
The net result is a vast reduction in wasted time and the store sells FIVE times as much as the competition–$100 million per year for Stew Leonard’s. Of course all the customer service and entertainment helps, but people come to the store to buy, and Stew has removed the barriers from that purpose, while the competition provides long steel canyons for shoppers to navigate, bury what the shoppers clearly want to buy in a sea of irrelevant offers. It’s really not that complicated, if you focus on what the shopper wants.
Stew Leonard is like the poker player who has somehow found a way to manage to always get himself dealt four aces for every hand. After awhile, he convinces himself that he is an outstanding poker player. So everyone is focusing on the great customer service, fresh merchandise, yadda, yadda, yadda. Those things are easier to provide when you are minting money the way Stew is doing. It’s the underlying fundamentals. Since HEB’s Central Market is a virtual knock-off of Stew Leonard’s, I wonder if they know the reasons for their success.
It’s fun instead of a chore! Stew Leonard’s focuses not just on selling groceries but also on entertaining shoppers, making a trip to the supermarket a unique, fun experience. Leonard offers an off Broadway “Sense of Theater” and his associates are great on-stage performers.
The “Leonard Show” can expand only with such an intense production and director–and that’s a tall, tall order.
I first became aware of Stew Leonard’s in 1973-1974 time frame, when we were developing a new corporate headquarters for Dairy Mart in Enfield, Conn. Our Chairman suggested we spend a day at what was then the only location Stew Leonard’s operated.
While it did not have all of the animatronics elements referred to in the article, it did have a petting zoo and a place you could get an ice cream cone. The internal layout was more traditional than it is today. One thing that was very different was that customers could view through a series of glass “walls” a milk production plant creating a sense of theater and entertainment in the purchase process.
However, what I remember most was not the physical plant that Stew Leonard’s chose to do business in, but the overwhelming commitment to servicing the customer. Outside the store was a “rock” upon which were the rules they operated by. Rule 1: The customer is always right. Rule 2: If the customer is ever wrong, reread Rule 1.
I believe that the food industry–supermarkets, c-stores, restaurants–have learned a lot about the use of theater since then, but without keeping those two key rules, customers soon do a “thumbs down” on any business.
Stew Leonard’s has undoubtedly created an engaging shopping environment. Its serpentine layout is very effective to the extent that it seems to encourage impulse buys. Most important of all, however, is that their product quality and pricing,combined with an interesting shopping experience, delivers great value.
I cannot speak to today but their pricing was always sharp when I was a customer. They were not a Whole Foods to be sure. Stew’s is one of many things I miss about the Northeast. And by the way, Ronald Reagan recognized Stew Sr. for his outstanding retail practices 25 years ago.
Most grocery stores are more or less functional. The management at Stew Leonard’s must long ago have recognized that to succeed they needed to go beyond basic function. Whether they use the language or not, it’s clear that they focus their business on the Total Customer Experience.
It’s not just about price, product selection, reasonable check-out lines or even product quality–though they score high in all those. A shopping trip to Stew’s addresses all your senses (and those of your kid’s too). It’s about the smell of the bakery as you enter, the taste of the free samples, the sight of the diary line, the sounds of the singing animals, the smile of the deli clerk, the guarantee that the customer comes first, and so on.
Certainly they have to meet the basic functional requirement as well but shoppers do literally drive for miles (and past dozens of other grocery stores) to come to Stew Leonard’s. They deliver an experience with value to the senses in categories that other grocers haven’t even begun to consider. It keeps customers coming back.
On the expansion question, just a note that Stew has expanded into wine. There are now three Stew Leonard’s Wines and Spirits stores in Connecticut, two in New York and two in New Jersey. I enjoyed my one visit to the Paramus, NJ store but was not bowled over. There’s very little of the merchandising panache that they’re famous for–a few token samples; some colorful signage.
That said, the prices are good and the store is conveniently organized by country. There are lots of specials and recommendations, which is helpful to the non-oenophile. The one bit of “fun” is the regular appearance of celebrities at the stores: Lorraine Braco, Mario Bitali, etc. for tastings, book signings and the like. Would love to see a more bacchanalia spin on things. Seems like there’s so much potential, what with Stew Jr.’s love of retail theater.
One shouldn’t be surprised st Stew’s success. The store is different and entertaining. I understand that employees of the company have attended Walt Disney School of Marketing. That the store looks the way it does, is not coincidental (think of Bear Country Jamboree).
As another writer observed, a customer is forced to travel the entire store. I heard another story about selling strawberries and cherries loose instead of in pre-packaged quarts and doubling or tripling the sales–in spite of spoilage–because the customer wasn’t weighing the product and buying more. The produce is fresh and attractive, the bakery is fresh and the fish is not hanging around the stores long enough to be old.
The bottom line is that Stew’s has multiple differentiating factors, all of which combine to contribute to the company’s success. Refreshing in an otherwise boring retail environment!
I have never been there, but have done extensive research on them, and we could all learn from their success. Unfortunately, my store is in a very poor area, and Stew’s store is in a fabulous location.
Be that as it may, I still try to present my customers with unique homemade foods they can’t buy at the chain stores. It works to a point, and executing the basics takes care of the rest. All of us wish we had affluent clientele, but if you’re dealt lemons…make lemonade, and that is what we all must do to survive in this brutal economy.
Happy holidays to all.
As many devout supermarket guys had before me, I made the pilgrimage to Stew Leonard’s about ten years ago after reading about it in trade magazines for decades. I visited the altar of food store entertainment and came away suitably impressed. But, I sure wouldn’t want to shop there regularly. Why should shoppers be forced to move in lockstep through the store, single file in a single aisle? Why can’t I dash in for one item and go directly to it rather than having to follow a yellow brick road? And I like choice. I’m not impressed by limited assortment stores. My entertainment is seeing a lot of interesting products rather than seeing animatronic puppets. Leonard’s is like a clean Chuck E. Cheese with fresh groceries. I could only take it a couple of times a year.
As far as expansion, I don’t see Stew adding too many more stores. I think it would dilute their excellence. However, a few more would be nice.
Stew is a great marketer. I like watching the videos of him riding horses around his cattle ranch. A meat employee told me that actually very little meat comes from this ranch, but still some does and believing that it does makes a good impression. It makes you feel a more personal connection to what you are eating.
I noticed that the employees really seem to enjoy working there and they claim to be treated very well. It’s a fun place to shop and there is a lot of interaction with customers. Being privately held allows Stew Leonard’s to be innovative and not held back by Wall Street.
Retailer of the Year in Connecticut? Doesn’t sound like much of an achievement considering the ineffectual competitors like Stop & Shop, Shaw’s, and A&P. However he truly does deserve to be recognized.
Stew Leonards is the best food shopping experience around! Sure, the prices are a bit higher than traditional grocery stores, but I’m willing to pay for the experience, freshly prepared foods and overall atmosphere. The sampling of their prepared dishes has turned me into a loyal shopper.
I have never lived in Southern Connecticut or anywhere near it. I have only been in Stew Leonard’s one time. That was in 1982. I can still describe every detail of the experience to this day. Does that answer the question?
All of those like me that have grown up in or lived in Southern Connecticut know that Stew’s is a destination. The reason they are the highest grossing grocery store per square foot in the world is because people are willing to travel to their stores from afar, something most retail stores do not have the luxury of.
Once in the store, their model is unique in the sense that you walk past every single SKU before checking out. The entertainment factor is what allows you to do that without you or the kids getting bored. This obviously promotes add-on sales and impulse buys.
Having only 2k SKUs also gives Stew’s the luxury of dedicating more square footage to items he wants to display and promote. The merchandise piled high that you have to literally walk around to get through the maze to the checkout makes his favorite items impossible to miss.
I’ve enjoyed reading all the comments here mostly universal in agreement in regards to the power of entertainment and staging. I happen to live near Stew’s Norwalk store and am a frequent shopper there. In addition to the entertainment, part of their success, I believe, is their commitment to the areas that they focus on. In a world where most retailers are trying to be all things to all people, Stew Leonard’s not only has limited skus, but also has a few other things that make them special in consumer’s minds which ties back to Stew Jr’s comment regarding listening to consumers and then delivering on it. They focus on a few areas to make them the best they can possibly be.
It is true that people will drive from miles away to shop at Stew Leonard’s, especially during the holidays. It is almost overwhelming to pull into their parking lot near a holiday and see all the cars and people. And yet, they still make it manageable to shop. Their seafood department sets up a temporary extra counter with extra employees who focus solely on cooked shrimp and crab legs for appetizers. Lemons and cocktail sauce are right next to it. It is amazing to witness the speed at which they are able to service customers and get them on their way.
At Christmas-time they set up a dedicated area outside the store (at other times of the year this space is used for gardening products and plants). They run the process of selecting the family Christmas tree like a well-oiled machine. You have a multitude of employees to help you select your tree which you receive a ticket for. As you head to the checkout, you enjoy another winding one-lane experience in which you can choose lights, lawn ornaments, decorations, extension cords, etc. You then get in your car and get into the “drive-through” line. Your tree has gone through a machine that shaves off a fresh stump and bundles it with twine. Employees are waiting for you as you drive up to expertly attach the tree to the roof of your car and you are on your way.
The consumer experience hands-down has all these devotees returning again and again.