NORWALK — Stew Leonard’s customers with a green thumb will soon find their favorite plants and garden essentials year-round.
Stew Leonard’s expects to complete its new indoor garden center by late fall, according to Meghan Bell, director of public relations. The addition will be located on the west side of the building, and construction is already underway to permanently enclose the outdoor retail space previously reserved for its garden products.
“You’ll be able to enter the store from the new garden center and we will be able to offer more indoor plants and gardening essentials throughout the year,” Bell said.
Some of the construction will include regrading a portion of the parking lot. The supermarket will maintain its outdoor nursery with trees, shrubs, bushes and more.
To the left of the garden center, Stew Leonard’s plans to expand its entrance to house its farmers market and add a second floor for office space for store staff. Construction on that addition will begin in late spring or early summer 2023, according to Bell.
The garden center and farmers market will add 10,500 square feet to the supermarket’s existing 130,000-square-foot headquarters on Westport Avenue. In between each addition, Stew Leonard’s will keep its red-striped outdoor tent
The supermarket doesn’t anticipate the construction to inconvenience customers as they shop at the store.
Norwalk Planning and Zoning approved the project in August 2021. The city previously approved a special permit for Stew Leonard’s in 2008 for a similar project that would have added 18,000 square feet to the building. Construction never started on the project and the permit expired.
emily.morgan@hearstmediact.com