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Norwalk, Conn., Dairy Store Will Enjoy Its 15 Minutes of Fame on NBC Show

Posted on: Wednesday, 19 October 2005, 00:00 CDT

By Chris Bosak, The Hour, Norwalk, Conn.

Oct. 18--NORWALK -- Two Fairfield County business icons will be on display for a national television audience as Stew Leonard's will be featured on NBC's "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart" at 9 p.m. on Wednesday.

Stew Leonard's was founded in Norwalk and is billed as the World's Largest Dairy Store, while Martha Stewart was a long-time Westport resident and launched her domestic empire by starting a catering business there.

"It's very exciting. Everybody's buzzing about it at the store," Stew Leonard Jr., president and CEO of Stew Leonard's, said. "It will be nice for the community, too, to be recognized nationally."

"The Apprentice: Martha Stewart" is a reality show based on the popular Donald Trump show "The Apprentice," whereby teams of candidates perform business-related duties each week until an ultimate winner is determined. The winner earns a one-year apprenticeship with the respective business mogul.

The filming at Stew Leonard's took place in May but, because of confidentiality arrangements, the store was not permitted to release any information until Monday evening.

"It's a big deal, but we were sworn to secrecy," said Stew Leonard Sr., who founded Stew Leonard's in 1969. "If we did say anything, they were going to pull the plug on it. It's OK now because the show is on Wednesday. We're thrilled to be a part of it."

With the show airing Wednesday night, no one at Stew Leonard's -- not even Stew Jr. or Stew Sr. -- knows exactly what they will see as the final product.

The show, the fifth episode of "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart," is entitled "Mixed Greens." The television guide on Yahoo.com states: "The candidates must sell a new salad-dressing at a local market, and one team argues over the recipe while the other is nearly kicked out of the store."

One team sold the dressing at the Stew Leonard's location in Norwalk, while the other hawked the product at the Yonkers, N.Y., location.

"Everything has to be equal," said Meghan Flynn of Stew Leonard's public relations department. "No team can have an advantage over the other one."

Flynn said a customer service "incident" takes place at one of the locations, threatening the store's motto: "Rule 1 -- The Customer is Always Right. Rule 2 -- If the Customer is Ever Wrong, Re-Read Rule #1." The motto is inscribed in large rocks at the entrance of each Stew Leonard's location.

"It should be a very exciting episode," said Flynn. "Our customers (in May) were wondering what was going on with all the cameras, but we couldn't say anything. Maybe some of our local customers who were there that day will be on television."

It was not Leonard's first introduction to Stewart, as the two are long-time friends.

"I used to push her shopping cart out to her car," said Leonard Jr. "This will be one of the biggest national publicity events we've ever had."

Flynn said Stew Leonard's approached the producers of Donald Trump's The Apprentice show years ago, but "it didn't work out then."

The producers, however, remembered Stew Leonard's when it came time to create business tasks for episodes of Stewart's show.

"Stew's has so many unique features that we thought it would be great to be participate," Flynn said. "Plus, Martha is familiar with the store and the quality of the food here. It was a perfect fit."

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Copyright (c) 2005, The Hour, Norwalk, Conn.

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GE, V, EX,

Source: The Hour

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