Dakes, family that started Stewart’s Shops chain, selling stock to employees
MALTA - The Dake family plans to sell its majority share in the Stewart's Shops to the employees of the beloved Capital Region convenience store chain founded nearly 80 years ago.
Stewart's is based in Saratoga County and it is owned under an employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP. The Dake family started as dairy farmers before creating a retail behemoth with 350 stores in New York and Vermont and $2.5 billion in annual revenue.
The Dake family owns roughly 60 percent of the company's stock. Those shares will be sold slowly under a 20-year divestiture plan in which the Dake family will retire and walk away from the business, leaving it into the hands of the employees.
The Albany Business Review was the first to report the story.
Gary Dake is CEO of Stewart's Shops. His father, Bill Dake, is chairman of the board of directors. The family has not disclosed how much they have valued their shares at or at what price they plan to sell the shares to the ESOP.
Robin Cooper, a Stewart's Shops spokesman, said the Dakes have been planning on selling their shares back to the ESOP all along. The family has always valued employee ownership in the company since its beginning.
"A decision of this kind was going to be coming someday," Cooper told the Times Union. "Change is different, even when it's positive."
The Stewart's Shops ESOP had 4,921 participants as of the end of 2023. The total shares of the company were valued at the time at $877 million.
Stewart's Shops is known for its long-tenured employees. Many have accrued stock in excess of $1 million.
Dake told the Business Review that the next generation of Dakes does not live in the Capital Region and do not have an emotional tie to the company.
This story was originally published September 23, 2024, 3:44 PM.
