Dubbed ‘the Disneyland of Dairy Stores’ by the New York Times, Stew Leonard’s lives up to that extraordinary label by supplementing customers’ shopping experience with costumed characters, animatronic figurines, petting zoos, outdoor cafes and free food samples. Tourist groups from Europe to China have been known to venture to Stew’s, one of the most family-friendly, entertaining stores in the world.
Within the space of a mere few blocks the SoNo district offers a world of shopping options, supplementing traditional outlets with more unusual stores devoted to the likes of imported coffees, bead jewelry, Dutch goods, chinaware and fine lamps.
Within a few square blocks in Westport’s downtown area, high-end names like Brooks Brothers, Coach and Williams Sonoma can be found among ritzy restaurants, gourmet food shops and craft boutiques. The picturesque, red brick-lined district wouldn’t be out of place in Sag Harbor or the Hamptons and has long been a favored destination for Westporters like Martha Stewart and Joanne Woodward.
While this 19th-century New England village is made up of no more than a half dozen stores, what Cannondale loses in size it gains in high-quality merchandise. Along its woodsy streets visitors can find the one-of-a-kind cartoon art, floral arrangements, antique furniture, window treatments, ceramic restorations and more.