Around The Store With Stew Leonard

DID YOU KNOW? The Leonard family’s roots can be traced back to 1888 when Patrick Joseph Leonard emigrated from Ireland to Danbury, Conn. He supported his wife and 12 children as a hat maker! Happy St. Patrick’s Day and be sure to pick up a loaf of Irish Soda Bread from the Bakery. Here’s a quick video of what goes into making the recipe:

Watch The Video

OUR FIRST IN-STORE EVENT IN A YEAR! Our annual Egg Hunt was canceled last year due to Covid-19. It was a tough decision to make, but we knew we had to do it for the safety of our Team Members and our shoppers. A year later, I’m excited to say that our Egg Hunts are back on the calendar for March 24 & 25 at all seven of our stores! We can’t wait to see the kids’ smiling faces. We’re putting plenty of safety measures in place and you just need to register for your free tickets on-line. Plus, to make this a real community event, we’re asking our shoppers to bring a non-perishable food item to support food pantries and the Egg Hunt winners will get gift cards to a locally owned toy store.

Register For Your Free Tickets

FROM GOLD CARD TO APP Forty years ago I remember my dad saying, “Let’s give all our customers that spend over $5000 a GOLD CHECK CASHING CARD." We did, and what did they get? A personal “thank you” by name when you checked out and a gift now and then. We found that customers loved being Gold Card members. Fast forward to today, our customers are using different apps and credit cards to pay on a regular basis. So… we launched an APP, which gets you 1 point on every dollar. Reach 100 points and get a free ice cream cone or coffee. The APP is also allowing us to keep track of our best customers' points. Better than the Gold Card, we are offering you these FREE items this week if you use the APP. Here are this weeks offers:

• Free garlic bread with purchases of $40 or more
• Buy 2 Stew Leonard’s organic broths and get one free
• Spindrift 8 Pack Sparkling Water for $3.99

Download The App

MY CNBC SEGMENT This weekend marks the one-year anniversary of the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and CNBC asked me to be a guest on their World Wide Exchange program early Friday morning to discuss what’s changed here at Stew Leonard’s. I’ve never had another job and I’ve NEVER seen the changes that occurred in 2020. We’ve closed our self-service bars, installed two football fields’ worth of Plexi-glass, and sales of immunity-boosting foods like citrus and garlic have skyrocketed.

Watch The Interview

I’M GIVING OUR COVID-19 WARRIOR AWARDS to some of Stew Leonard’s team members. We’ve worked EVERY DAY since the pandemic hit a year ago. There is a group of people here that CHARGED forward in light of all the tragic global news. Stew’s fed MILLIONS of customers last year in our communities and supplied food banks much needed food. There were supply issues, but shelves needed to be full. This group of people made it happen! This award will be shared with their families now and in the future. 2020 was a historic, global event that will go down in history. It’s like my grandfather talking to me about the depression in 1929 or my Jewish Mom talking about fleeing Germany in the early 1930’s. There are many people that shine in the face of adversity, and I’m proud to say many are here at Stew’s. Here’s where we were about a year ago!

See The Video

ASK ME ANYTHING I received a question from a customer who read that I was on Weight Watchers in the last newsletter. She asked if it was possible to have nutritional information on our packaged food, with a focus on the bakery and breads especially. I thought this was a great idea so I’m meeting with the bakery team this week and nutritional labeling in the bakery is on the top of our list!

BLAKE’S WINE CORNER One of my favorite wines to serve with hearty Easter meals of rich and smoky flavored ham or fresh herbed-stuffed leg of lamb is a full-bodied and robust red like a 2017 Carious-Cairanne Côtes du Rhône Villages. Such a great value at under $15, this wine is known for its nuances of sunbaked earth, herbs, and minerals that all come together beautifully. Rated at 91 Points from Wine Advocate, you can taste the sunshine here – just in time for celebrating the holiday and warmer weather to come!