Chase Leonard, left, and Andrew Hollis. Photo Courtesy of Stew Leonard’s.
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Stew Leonard’s Launches First Podcast: LegenDAIRY
Cousins, Co-Workers, and Co-Hosts Take Customers Behind-the-Scenes at the Disneyland of Dairy Stores
Norwalk, CT – June 29, 2023- Farm fresh food store Stew Leonard’s today announced the launch of their first podcast, LegenDAIRY. A play on the Leonard family’s roots in the dairy industry, the LegenDAIRY podcast is co-hosted by cousins Chase Leonard and Andrew Hollis, grandchildren of store founder Stew Leonard, Sr. Each episode explores the entrepreneurial backstories of their family business’s growth from a small dairy store founded in 1969 to a nearly $600 million business operating seven stores in three states.
LegenDAIRY was originally inspired by the talk around Chase’s and Andrew’s family dinner tables growing up. As members of the third generation of a family owned and operated business, they have front row seats to see how products go from the shelves at Stew Leonard’s and into shoppers’ carts. Notably, behind every product sold at Stew Leonard’s, there is a story and a lesson to be shared about customer service, entrepreneurship, and freshness.
“Before opening Stew Leonard’s, our grandfather was a milkman and a small business owner,” noted Andrew Hollis, who currently serves as Grocery Manager at Stew Leonard’s in Yonkers. “He instilled an entrepreneurial spirit in our family and, in turn, the more than 2,500 Team Members who work for Stew’s. There’s an overarching attitude of ‘let’s try it’ when it comes to new products and new concepts. We have some great stories to tell.”
“Growing up, my family’s dinner conversations weren’t just about food on the table,” said Chase Leonard, who is the Senior Photo and Video Producer at Stew Leonard’s. “They were about the bread my Aunt Bethy had baked that day or about the local farmer who grew the lettuce for our salad. From turkey on our Thanksgiving table to the milk I pour in my morning coffee, there are Stew Leonard’s Team Members as well as farmers, growers, and vendors with their own stories to tell. LegenDAIRY will peel back each of those layers.”
The first episode of LegenDAIRY is now available on all listening platforms including YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music & Audible, and Spotify. This first season will offer ten episodes, released monthly. Topics are gathered from other members of the Leonard family and Team Members, as well as taken from customers’ most frequently asked questions. Episode one, titled “Every Product Has A Story,” will focus on just a few of Stew Leonard’s best-selling, and more fascinating, products sold at the store. Future episodes will include deep dives into customer service, the in-store experience, and trends. Special guests will also join future episodes, including Chase’s father, store president & CEO, Stew Leonard, Jr. and Beth Leonard Hollis, Andrew’s mother, who started the largest in-store scratch bakery at Stew’s.
About Stew Leonard's
Stew Leonard's, a family-owned and operated fresh food store founded in 1969, has seven stores in Norwalk, Danbury, and Newington, Conn.; in East Meadow, Farmingdale and Yonkers, N.Y.; and in Paramus, NJ. An eighth store is planned to open in Clifton, N.J. in 2014. Stew's earned its nickname, the "Disneyland of Dairy Stores" because of its country-fair atmosphere, with costumed characters and animated entertainment throughout the store that keep children entertained while parents shop. Stew Leonard's legion of loyal shoppers is largely due to the stores' passionate approach to customer service: "Rule #1 -- The Customer is Always Right"; Rule #2 - If the Customer is Ever Wrong, Re-Read Rule #1." This principle is so essential to the foundation of the company that it is etched in a three-ton granite rock at each store's entrance. The company's culture is built around an acronym for S.T.E.W.: Satisfy the customer; Teamwork gets it done; Excellence makes it better; WOW makes it fun. For more information, visit Stew Leonard's website at www.stewleonards.com.