Around The Store With Stew

August 2025

Here's what's happening around the store. First of all, I want to thank you for your comments about this newsletter. I answered a few comments: “What’s the latest on converting the cupcake icing to all natural with no dyes?” We’re working to eliminate dyes from our food at Stew’s. We put up two displays in the store, one with dye, the other without. All natural sells 3:1. You’ll see them soon in all stores. “I like the transparency of your newsletter.  I can hear your voice!”  Thanks. I do the writing but I have it proofread for typos and grammar. My English teacher would be outraged.  I like it to sound like I’m speaking to you in the store. Top questions I was asked in the store this week: 1. Are you thinking about the new Wegmans opening? Our family welcomes the Wegman family into our community.  Wegmans has over 100 stores and has now opened in Norwalk, CT and guess where I was standing on their grand opening day? Next to…my friend…Danny Wegman and his daughter Colleen! Competition is never fully welcomed but in the food business it’s a reality. Our family has been friends with them for 30 years. Wegmans has hosted our management team in Rochester (their HQ) and we have reciprocated with them visiting Stew’s. We share a passion for food, quality, treating our team members with respect, and doing back flips for our customers. This is not just something you write up and hang on the wall, it’s pure PASSION. We obviously aren’t taking it laying down. We countered with some hot prices (more than usual) AND bumped up the number of demos and events.  We told all our team members to be on their tippy toes every day. It’s hard to compete with a grand opening but if we keep our heads down and keep providing YOU with great quality at a great price, and a fun environment, we’ll be fine.  I must have met 20-30 customers checking out the new Wegmans store.  They (our customers) were embarrassed to see me at Wegmans.  Best excuse…….. “My daughter loves Wegmans and dragged me here today!”  That’s okay. I always visit the new restaurant in town. The question is, will I go back? 2. What do you do with the leftover food? First of all, the secret is having a high turnover of the products so there is nothing left over.  If you want a FRESH made product, you have to be good at predicting how many to make each day.   We’re actually using AI to help us do production estimates.  If you make 100 fresh sandwiches each day, what if there are 6 left over in the morning?  How many bagels to make?  Even though we have high turnover (that’s really the secret) we can’t be perfect.  It does rain. Here’s how we minimize food waste: • Chop it or use it today!  If a melon is bruised, we use it for the fresh cut fruit bowls. Too many rotisserie chickens left over?  We have a rotisserie chicken salad.  Ripe avocados?  Off to the sushi chefs.  Stew’s food buffet also helps eliminate waste. If our butcher has ground too much beef, the chefs in the kitchen will create a meatloaf. • Every morning- give it away.  Our bakery shelves get cleared and there are 4-5 vans waiting to distribute the goods to soup kitchens, food pantries, and charities like Food Rescue US.  Each of our stores works with about 15-20 local charities. • Give it to the pigs.  Our farmers pick up the scraps and the animals love carrot peelings, melon rinds, etc.  And, if you need coffee grounds to fertilize your garden, just ask at our coffee bar!  They’ll be happy to give them to you. What can you do?  At home, use your nose instead of your eyes!  I guarantee your milk will still be good past the “sell by” date.  There are many “safety days” built into that date.  We squeeze our OJ fresh each morning and use a “sell by” date with 5 days.  I don’t want you drinking that in 5 days because the taste isn’t there…but it’ s perfectly ok to drink. Most customers are prisoners to the sell by date (including my wife). But use your nose instead. 3. What’s the latest on the tariffs? We have very little exposure on the food side regarding the tariff impact.  We moved our aluminum packaging from China and Vietnam to the USA.  Costs a little more but it’s a USA company.  Only items that have been tariffed are our tropical fruit.  We don’t grow bananas in the USA.  We split the tariff with our importer and we’ve absorbed the price on our end.  The big potential impact on Stew’s regards alcohol.  The new European tariff is 15% but, temporarily, wine and spirits are exempt.  Right now, the seas are calm regarding tariffs.  We haven’t raised any prices. It seems to change daily! 4. Mamdani – opening 5 supermarkets in NYC? Maria Bartiromo called and asked what I thought about Mamdani potentially opening 5 government-owned supermarkets in NYC.  I said I’d offer my advice.  Here goes: • Focus on freshness and quality - There are opportunities here with the NY State Dept. of Agriculture. NY has some incredible farms, ranches and cheese makers. Local apples and NY State cheddar cheese...yum. Can you use the government to strengthen these relationships and get fresh local food to NYC residents? Look how popular the Union Square Greenmarket has become. If you can do that, you have a shot at success. • Hire great people and provide them with opportunity - Can you promise them a career?  80% of our management team has been promoted from within. Again, the State of NY has some great work programs. Take advantage of them. • Watch the competition - NYC retailers are sharp! I talk to Joe and his daughter from Citarella, Alan from Butterfields, Whole Food execs opening 20 new “Dailys” in NYC, Trader Joe’s is cranking, Saul Zabar and his son at the famous Zabar’s, Avi Kaner from Morton Williams, John Catsimatidis from Gristedes, etc. You have to be on your toes every day. • Make customer service a priority - A motivated team of people can make the stores an exciting place to shop. • Pay your farmers, ranchers and suppliers on time - These families depend on quick payment to run their farms. • Make a profit - I don’t know the inner workings of a government run food store but, you need to make a profit.  Your team wants raises every year and you need to invest in new technology and equipment. The food industry already operates on razor thin margins. 5. How do I save money at Stew’s? • Take advantage of our specials and APP deals - For instance, this week we have Whole Bone in Ribeye $9.99/lb cut to order. 4 oz. $5.99/ea lobster tails. Boneless chicken thighs $2.99/lb. Ground chuck burgers $4.99/lb and sirloin burgers $6.99lb.  Local New Jersey Peaches $1.99/lb, local squash $1.49/lb, and local strawberries $3.99/ea.  Plus, our Real Deal lobster rolls on the weekends at $9.99/each.  I hear they are going for $45 each in the Hamptons. • You can freeze a lot of things………even milk - We learned this during Covid. • Explore private label - Our rule is that it must TASTE AS GOOD OR BETTER THAN THE NATIONAL BRAND.  We have learned that we can’t duplicate. We tried Stew’s Cola (Coke/Pepsi) and Stew’s Stewie-ooo’s (Cheerio’s) and they were a flop!  On the other hand, have you tried our Sweet Potato Chips or guacamole? To die for! • Watch out for our demos - Stick to your shopping list! • Leave your kids home -   “Mommy, can you buy these cookies?”  We try to make shopping fun for the kids but, they add 1-2 items to your shopping cart! 6. What items are HOT right now at Stew’s? Porterhouse burgers are on fire! Cherry plums, banana pudding, beer-can chicken thighs, Stew’s dill pickle chicken salad, and our chef-made mac & cheese. New “Shark Tank” BBQ brush. I threw out my old ones. Have I been ingesting metal fibers? Dubai Chocolate bars are still cranking. 7. Why is the registering moo’ing? Years ago, my Dad asked me to order 10,000 gold Check Cashing cards. “Why?” We’re going to give this to our best customers and the cashiers are instructed to say, “Thanks for shopping at Stew’s, Mr. Jones.” I still get customers coming up to me in the store showing me their gold cards even though they’re at least 20 years old. A few things have changed. First of all, very few customers write checks today (85% of sales are Apple Pay, credit card, debit card, etc.). So, at our Norwalk store, we are identifying the top 10% of our customers and sounding a “MOOOO” alarm at check out! Sort of like ringing the bell at Trader Joe’s when there’s an extra nice cashier. If you get a moo, I’d love to give you a hug! 8. I can’t buy everything at Stew’s. Why? Stew’s has about 2,500 items compared to most supermarkets with 50-100,000.  It’s mainly in the grocery area (the center aisles in most supermarkets) but we have an extensive selection of fresh, perishable items.  By having fewer items we’re able to achieve high volume on the items we sell. Also, we’ll pick the best supplier in each and do more business with fewer vendors.  We don’t have any off-site commissaries or distribution centers. Delivers come direct to our store.  We can buy better and make bigger displays in the store.   Jim Sinegal (Retired CEO of Costco) said he limited his management team to 4,000 items in each store.  He wanted pallets on the floor. This philosophy earned us a spot in the Guiness Book of World Records (1992) for “greatest sales per square foot.” Yeah, we earned that, but we would have come in dead last if it was for “profit per square foot!” 9. Is Stew Leonard’s using AI? We’ve been asking AI to detect “relationships” in customers purchasing habits. Here are 3 things we’ve learned: customers who bought lobster also bought butter (92%), Stew’s Buffalo Chicken Dip and Stew’s Tortilla Chips (88%), and fresh cut fruit and whipped cream (40%.)  We can merchandise these items together.  Also, AI can help with our production planning. How many fresh sandwiches should we produce today? Ask AI. 10. Where did the animation idea come from? My Dad was over the moon about what Walt Disney created.  We used to go to California and Florida for our family Disney trips. We were thrilled at the animation (especially “It’s a Small World”) and the costumed characters (Mickey) entertaining the kids. Check out the New York Times story from 1983 when reporter Bryan Miller called Stew’s the “Disneyland” of Dairy Stores! My brother Tommy attended college in Denver and went to a Chuck E. Cheese one day. He saw this show called “Sally on the Piano.” He called the company and ordered one.  It arrived in Norwalk, Ct with no paperwork.  We rejected the delivery. We finally sorted things out at the store and there was Sally playing her tunes for our customers.  It was a home run. Customers were literally dancing in the aisles. From there we started designing our own animation and even writing the lyrics for the Farm Fresh Five show. Now we have over 300 animated objects in all our stores. We even are creating an “Idea Lab” in our Danbury store to create even more excitement! Breaks my Heart - Water Safety I just received my second call of the season about a child drowning. The Mayor of Paterson, NJ, André Sayegh, called and told me about a drowning in his town.  It happened in the family’s swimming pool.  I have a 5-year-old grandson, and I can only imagine the pain this parent is feeling. I spoke to the family, and they never were able to teach their child to swim.  He was found at the bottom of the pool. My heart breaks.  We are teaching 1,000 kids a week at our Norwalk, CT swim school.  We’re a charity (501c3) so all our profits go toward providing free swim lessons to kids in need.  For every swim lesson you buy, it provides a free lesson for the kids, believe it or not, some have NEVER seen the water before.  We provided over 50,000 free lessons this year.  I’m passionate about food…but don’t tell anyone…I’m even more passionate about water safety. I hope you have a safe summer enjoying the water. In memory of Zita Sebastian Here’s an amazing lady from India, who began working nights in our bakery, and after 35 years retired as Stew Leonard’s Director of Bakeries. She raised, single handedly, 3 boys with amazing values.  They are all now all professional businessmen with wonderful families. Zita, we’ll miss you! Projects we're working on: • Gift Center or E-commerce? We do a lot of business with our gift boxes at the holidays. This year, we are revamping our catalog and will also be featured on Goldbelly.  We’ll be able to ship our products across the country. • How do we get more Google Reviews? I’m no wizard at this, but I do know that the more Google Reviews you get, the more recognized your products are on the internet. How do we get more reviews from you?  Any ideas?  Write me back. • Steak Taste Test: my favorite will surprise you! What’s the taste difference between our Naked NY Strip Steak, Grass Fed, Prime and Dry Aged? Butchers went with the Prime. I actually liked Stew’s Naked NY Strip. Prime #2. Dry Aged #3 and #4 Grass Fed (it always tastes a little grassy to me). The knockout cut is the Prime Ribeye Bone-In (Fred Flintstone cut). Prime is a little too rich for me but has an incredible flavor. My Grandson, where’s the money? How do you instill a work ethic in your kids? I brought my daughters to Stew’s while they were growing up, and they worked various jobs. Now, we’re doing the same for our grandkids.  Mine are only 4 and 5 but we provide them with a uniform and gloves, and they package cookies in the bakery.  I pay them $1 per year depending on their age. One gets $4 and one gets $5. It’s fair.  After they work (they can only last 1 hour) my daughter Blake pays them in singles. One day I was visiting their home and I asked my grandson where he was keeping his savings. He brought me to his room and opened his sock drawer. Dollar bills were scattered about.  He said, “Do you want some of them?” I tried to explain how he should save his money so he could buy something one day, like a toy. He looked at me dumbfounded. Then I thought about it and realized, my daughter never carries any cash with her. She pays electronically. How is my grandson going to learn about money? In school? But then again, will he ever be using cash in the future?