Stew Leonard, Jr.

President & CEO, Stew Leonard’s

Stew Leonard, Jr. replaced his father and namesake as president and chief executive of Stew Leonard’s in 1991, intent on restoring public confidence in the food retailer and reestablishing its sense of direction. Over the next decade the new CEO tripled sales to $300 million, attributing the turnaround to placing more emphasis on customer service and employee relations. Under his watch Stew Leonard’s has maintained its circus-like in-store entertainment – mooing mechanical cows, anyone? – while adding wine stores and other adult attractions. The company’s first food store on Long Island opened in Farmingdale in January 2016. Last August a second Long Island location opened in East Meadow. Leonard himself is also the owner of Stew Leonard’s Wine and Spirits in Farmingdale. Leonard, his wife Kim, and their four daughters have been nationally recognized for their support of children’s water safety through their foundation, Stew Leonard III Children’s Charities. They have authored two children’s books that have sold over 100,000 copies and, since 1990, have raised over $3 million for swim lessons and lifeguard training. The YMCA of Long Island has received water safety grants through Stew Leonard III Children’s Charities. A graduate of Ithaca College, Leonard earned his MBA from UCLA in 1982. He lives in Westport, Connecticut with his family. In 1992, after just a year in the corner office, the third-generation retailer earned an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records for having “the greatest sales per unit of any single food store in the United States.”