When grocer Stew Leonard, Jr., talks to his friends in the restaurant business these days, he tries to accentuate the positive around the COVID-19 pandemic.
“They’ve developed a curbside business that they never knew existed before,” Leonard said. I know it’s a tough time right now but when it comes back, I think they might find they got the restaurant and curbside.”
Curbside business is what motivated Leonard, CEO of his family’s regional grocery chain, to transform Halloween at his stores into a drive-through experience for young children.
“We had to figure out how to reinvent ourselves for Halloween,” Leonard said at an event Thursday unveiling the attraction at his Newington store. “We want the kids to still celebrate Halloween but as safely as you can.”
Drive-through Halloween at the Newington Stew Leonard’s consists of a swath of parking lot reconfigured into a short stretch of spooky set pieces including a pirate ship, skeletons and lots of pumpkins. At the end of the drive, parents are invited inside the store to sample Halloween treats like fried oreos and “mummy dogs,” which resemble spookified corn dogs.
“Businesses need to be creative and innovative,” said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, present at Thursday’s event. “The idea of a drive-through is a natural.” He went on to urge that revelers abstain from Halloween parties and gatherings this year and stick to drive-up trick-or-treating.
Blumenthal declined on Thursday to choose between candy bars wrapped in “Trump” and “Biden” packaging, but urged citizens to eat chocolate to fuel their energy to vote on Election Day.
Stew Leonard’s, which operates seven stores in Connecticut and New York with $500 million in revenue, has had to transform its model during the pandemic, Leonard told Winsight Grocery Business this summer. Known for its lively atmosphere, the chain had to suspend both animated characters and in-store demos to promote social distancing. Customers’ use of Instacart and other delivery apps has increased by 700% to 800%, Leonard said.
Plans are already under way for a socially-distanced Christmas at Stew Leonard’s, the CEO said on Thursday.
“People aren’t going to want to sit on Santa Claus’s lap,” Leonard said. Green screens will be set up in the stores to allow parents and children to interact with Santa Claus virtually, he said.
“Look at these kids right here,” Leonard said, gesturing at a tiny dinosaur and his sibling. “I want them to have a happy day.”
