Grocery to follow successful model

by Gregory J. Gilligan
Richmond Times-Dispatch
November 4, 2003

Tom Leonard wants to start his Richmond grocery store on a small scale, much like his father did 33 years ago. Leonard is the son of the founder of the Stew Leonard's supermarkets, which operates three huge markets in Connecticut and suburban New York City. Leon- ard plans to open a small market in western Henrico County that would focus on produce, bakery and dairy items.

The store initially would be 15,000 square feet, but Leonard has enough land to expand it later into a larger market.

Construction on the first phase of Tom Leonard's Farmer's Market is to begin early next year. The store is scheduled to open next fall.

The market would be on 6.3 acres behind the Best Buy store off West Broad Street. The land is off Brookriver Drive between the Capitol Floors & Decorating store and the Candlewood Suites hotel.

Leonard, who once ran the family's Danbury, Conn., store, moved to Richmond about four years ago so he and his wife could be closer to his in-laws. He commuted to work in Connecticut.

Leonard's father suggested late last year that he consider opening a store in the Richmond area. The family business is helping finance the local store.

Leonard said the driving idea behind the store is to sell fresh produce from around the country. "I want to start off small and build it bigger," he said.

He's taking some cues from his father, whose business started with a small dairy store in 1969.

Stew Leonard's markets in Danbury and Norwalk, Conn., and Yonkers, N.Y., have total annual sales of nearly $300 million. The stores were dubbed the "Disneyland of dairy stores" by The New York Times because the markets feature milk-processing plants, costumed characters and animated mechanical animals.