Bill Dake is quick to point out that as with any successful company, “Luck and good timing have definitely played a part in Stewart’s growth.” “But our success is also in vertical integration, making our own products and having the warehouse from which to distribute those we don’t manufacture ourselves. It’s an efficient way to operate and allows better pricing, while ensuring quality because we control it.” “On that note, I noticed a shift several years ago,” Bill continues. “Instead of asking me the secret of our success, I was being asked how Stewart’s simply survived. Thinking about it, I believe it was an inherited sense of curiosity.” “My father, uncle, brother and I didn’t hesitate to ask ‘What if…’ How else can one explain trying to invent a milk bottle that skimmed cream? Or trying to separate the salts from water to form a tablet that could be shipped and then recombined to form the original spring water again? And the helicopter business? We were curious to see what could work, how it could work. We were willing to try anything.” Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it infused life into the Dake Family, and in turn, Stewart’s. Milk, ice cream, gas and coffee have done more than grow the company, however. They’ve grown the community. Bill was married to former Saratoga Springs Mayor, Almeda ‘AC’ Riley, for 25 years. The couple had four children, including Gary, the only one to return home and join the company. Now president, he celebrated his 25th anniversary with Stewart’s in 2009. His sister is an optometrist in Connecticut, while another sister and brother are an architect and land architect, respectively, in Los Angeles Twenty-eight years ago, Bill married Susan Law, who many came to know through the iconic Stewart’s commercials that start with “Hi, I’m Susan.” Susan Dake is now president of the Stewart’s Foundation, one of the three foundations affiliated with the family, which also include the Philly and Charlie Dake Foundation and the Susan and Bill Dake Foundation. Stewart’s Foundation contributes more than $2.25 million to charitable and community organizations each year; the family foundations donate twice as much. In addition, Stewart’s Holiday Match program reached just under $1.4 million in 2012. Of that, $700,000 was Stewart’s match for its customers’ in-store donations between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Over the past 26 years, the Holiday Match has contributed more than $17 million to local children’s charities. These impressive numbers don’t include the countless hours that Bill, Susan and Gary have given to the saratogaTODAYnewspaper.com
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