Stew Leonard Sr., a folkloric retailer who expanded his namesake stores into merchandising meccas replete with petting zoos and mechanical singing farm animals, died April 26 in Manhattan. He was 93.

Mr. Leonard opened his original store in Norwalk, CT, in 1969 as a destination that promised fresh milk. “You’d have to own a cow to get it sooner,” his advertisements proclaimed. More than 50 years after the first store opened, Stew Leonard’s has expanded to seven locations — in Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey — earning $600 million annually, and it remains family-owned and operated with an enormously loyal customer base, despite being found guilty of tax evasion in the 1990s.

In retailing, Mr. Leonard said, the “wow factor” sells, but minding the store is what keeps the business going and growing. “A farmer’s shadow is the best fertilizer,” he said.