The best way to run a unique, experiential food retailing concept like Stew Leonard’s is from the store floor, not from behind a desk, said Jake Tavello, chief operating officer and grandson of the eponymous chain’s founder.
“You can’t just sit in the office and look at the numbers and look at reports,” Tavello said. “You need to be out on the store floor, with workers and your customers.”
Those are among the lessons he learned from a lifetime of working with his grandfather and his uncle, Stew Leonard Jr., who is currently president and CEO. Tavello cites a saying favored by his grandfather — “The farmer’s shadow is the best fertilizer” — as a metaphor for running stores with a hands-on approach.
It’s an appropriate comparison, as Stew Leonard’s barnyard-inspired ambiance — complete with Disneyesque musical animatronics — is an essential element of the chain’s success. Launched in 1969 as a small dairy store, Norwalk, Conn.-based Stew Leonard’s has maintained its family friendly, fresh-from-the-farm positioning as it has expanded to include seven stores in the greater New York area, with an eighth store slated to open by late November in Clifton, N.J.
Tavello, who received an MBA from Bentley University and worked for three years in the management training program at Wegmans Food Markets, returned to his family’s company in 2015. He has worked in every department at Stew Leonard’s, and, after managing the company’s Danbury, Conn., location, became the opening VP for the Paramus, N.J., store before being named VP of stores in 2020 and COO in 2022. Along the way, he helped the company form its partnership with Instacart and oversaw company-wide technology initiatives.
“Since joining the family business, Jake has not only earned my respect but the respect of his peers at Stew’s,” said Stew Leonard Jr. “He works hard and not only has the best interests of Stew Leonard’s at heart, but he also really wants to grow and develop our team members.”
In addition to the leadership lessons learned from his grandfather and uncle, Tavello also credited his time spent working with the company’s first COO, Chris Williams, a Pathmark and Stop & Shop veteran who helped the company in its expansion efforts.
Those lessons will provide dividends, Tavello said, as he helps the company open the Clifton location. At 50,000-square-feet, the store is about half the size of a typical Stew Leonard’s.
“It will be a challenge to keep everything that makes Stew Leonard’s unique and special —the ‘show and sell,’ seeing fresh mozzarella being made, the fresh bread made from scratch,” Tavello said. “It’s about keeping retail exciting, but in a smaller format. It’s a change, but I think we’ve figured out how to do that.”
Stew Leonard’s focus on experiential shopping will remain at the heart of the company’s operations under his watch, he said.
“We understand the things that are sacred to our culture and should not change, and the things that are open to change and are evolving as we grow this business,” Tavello said.
