Stewart's Market: New Canaan's Hometown Grocer

It's business as usual at Walter Stewart's Market on Elm Street in New Canaan. The parking lot is a roundabout of cars as shoppers pour in and out of the  doors carrying bags chock full of natural, gourmet and specialty items. And it's just these items, highly coveted and unavailable in conventional supermarkets, that help individually owned markets like Walter Stewart's make their stamp.

Now, a new brand of supermarket has come on the block in a powerful way. The runaway hit of the Whole Foods Market has made specialty items available to the mass public, threatening independent grocers on their home turf. The Whole Foods  that opened in June in Darien poses a very real threat to the independent grocers in the area.

When asked if Walter Stewart's Market was feeling any heat, General Manager Alex Stewart replied, "Absolutely. We realize they are competition." With the mass marketing of specialty items and spacious aisles filled with natural, gourmet, and specialty products, Whole Foods has hit a home run with the health conscious crowd. Its mass appeal makes it hard for independent grocers, who were carrying items like these first, to compete with the ever-expanding walls of the Whole Foods chain.

Faced with this prospect, Stewart has met the challenge of keeping up head on, "We know what Whole Foods strengths and weaknesses are, and we try and match them," he said.

Stewart said the impact of Whole Foods in Darien has been nothing substantial and the family market, which has been around for more than 100 years, isn't going anywhere anytime soon.  "We realize that some of our customers shop there and they occasionally ask us to carry the same items. We try our best to accommodate special requests," Stewart said.

 Most days at Walter Stewart's Market, a tent sits squarely in the middle of the parking lot on a grass-covered patch. The tent sign proudly says "Connecticut Grown", and it shades a delicious array of local produce. One of the perks of shopping small is being able to support local growers. While Whole Foods brings specialty items to towns that might not have local markets, it lacks the history, family tradition, and personalized service one can get at a store like Walter Stewart's.

An integral part of Walter Stewart's success in New Canaan is how the market has been able to sew itself into the town's history. It is the loyalty of the town and the customers that make Walter Stewart's Market a continued success.

"We are involved in the community and give back to it," said Stewart, "I think our customers realize that."