Stew Leonard Essay

Stew Leonard’s is a local chain of five amusement park style supermarkets located in Connecticut and New York. As a small dairy store, the first location opened in 1969 with only seven employees and today, it has grown into a $400 million business with nearly 2,000 employees. Promoted as “the World’s Largest Dairy Store,” it is designed to provide a unique customer experience (Stew Leonard, 2016). Stew Leonard intentionally developed a Disney experience and attributes the strong influence of his role model to the customer experience (Miller, 1983). In full disclosure, I frequent this store even though it is about a forty five minute drive out of my way to enjoy the distraction and amusement of this grocer. This unique retailer provides a hearty

The idea evolved into the current system of 4P’s of marketing, which include product, price, place, and promotion. The product can be a good or service and is described as something that fills the consumer’s needs or wants. Price is the amount a consumer is willing to pay for that product or service. Place indicates the access a customer has to that product or service. Promotion relates a message strategy or communication to the target audience. Lauterborn (1990) reframed the 4 P’s of marketing by focusing on the consumer, not the product, the cost rather than the price, the convenience instead of the place, and the communication more precisely than the promotion. He believed that this classification would better suit the idea of niche marketing and as disruptors are succeeding more in the online world today, this categorization is even more valuable. Though retailers are still in the business of providing products and services, it is the focus on the consumer’s wants and needs surrounding that resource. Using this taxonomy will better exemplify the success known as Stew Leonard’s

They price their products competitively though offer value that other retailers overlook. Amusement park entertainment for the kids while mom browses through the store and even the opportunity for a soft-serve ice cream for the well-behaved child or relieved parent, are just some of the benefits of this shopping experience (Zeveloff, 2015). Stew’s employs on average, twice as many employees per store, in large part, to offer that exceptional customer experience, preparing many meals and store-made products fresh daily. Yet, they remain very attentive of their pricing as compared to larger chains in their market areas (Stew Leonard, 2016). Providing a great value includes the fun factor of live characters, animatronics, petting zoos, and other planned entertainment, which attracts families to come to the store and to look around the entire