It did not go well in the late 1990s and later for a Connecticut grocery store known to bring fun to shopping.
But now, for the second time, Stew Leonard Jr. is looking at expanding his family’s destination grocery store into Orange.
He said, however, that there are a lot of complications to the search, with two or three other locations in the mix.
“We’re just in the exploration stage right now. Nothing’s final,” he said. “We’re looking in New Jersey for a site down there. We also have one or two sites in New York that we’re looking at. You’ve got to have a lot on the drawing board.”
Leonard is looking at the Orange Plaza, 200 Indian River Rd., where the closed Christmas Tree Shops is located.
“Times change and the road improvements have been made over time and it’s a very strong possibility and it’s a good fit at that location,” First Selectman James Zeoli said.
It’s already zoned for retail, so he won’t have the issues he had in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when he tried to open a store on Marsh Hill Road, where a FedEx center now stands next to an Outback Steakhouse, according to Zeoli.
Zeoli said Leonard had won all his zoning fights over 14 years but got tied up on environmental issues and finally gave up.
“I think we would have done a lot more for the community by opening a Stew Leonard’s there, making fresh mozzarella, with a big, full fresh bakery that makes artisan breads every morning, bringing all the great meat in from the Midwest and all our chefs and prepared foods,” Leonard said.
“I think we would have brought a lot to the community versus a FedEx distribution facility,” he said.
The family-owned chain, which began in Norwalk , will open its newest store in Clifton, N.J., this month, Leonard said.
“And so the family really has just decided we’ll just open up a new store every other year. So we got time,” he said.
The strategy is “one that the family agreed on because we are a family business and we want our family to be part of management,” Leonard said.
The last store the company opened was in Paramus, N.J., in 2019. Stew Leonard’s Connecticut stores are located in Norwalk, Danbury and Newington .
“My dad left us with quite a legacy,” Leonard said. “And even though we are growing and expanding, we want to do it internally from our internal people; 80% of them are hired from within. We have this restriction on our growth because we want to do it with our team members that work at Stew Leonard’s now.”
Stew Leonard’s is known for being a family-friendly destination with animatronics, such as a singing milk carton band, big plastic cows, and investment in the community.
“We just had a big touch-a-truck event up in Danbury with 1,000 people showing up,” Leonard said. “We have Easter egg hunts. You don’t have to look too far. Just go to our other stores. We’re involved in the community and we’re trying to help.”
“I think he’s always had interest in this area being that we’re a long ways from Norwalk, and a long ways from Newington,” Zeoli said. “I guess he figures it maybe is a good midpoint, something like that. … But it’s hard to read because … we’re in a pretty tough economy right now.
“I think it would pull a lot of people potentially from all the way out towards Branford, Guilford, Madison because they will probably come as far as here and jump right off the highway that might not drive all the way to Norwalk or up to Newington, absolutely.”
Zeoli said Stew Leonard’s might raise concerns among other grocers in Orange, such as Big Y, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Stop & Shop and Shop Rite.
“What will it do with other grocers within the area?” he said. “How will it affect them? You don’t want to see somebody else close that maybe deals with a little different clientele or something.”
Ed Stannard can be reached at estannard@courant.com .
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