In 1922, Abraham E Stouffer took over one of the milk stands owned by his dairy company. The milk, buttermilk and sandwich store was in the southwest of the Cleveland Arcade (lower level) and turned it into a restaurant with his wife Lena Mahala Bigelow. The Stouffer Lunch System was an idea Abraham had in the years prior to selling the Media County Creamery Co. in 1920. The Stouffers converted the operation into a restaurant which served buttermilk, sandwiches, and Lena Stouffer's homemade dutch apple pie (credited by some as the reason for the almost instant success of the restaurant). They opened the first restaurant, called the Stouffer Lunch, in 1924. As time went on, the couple continued the program of expansion with the assistance of their sons Vernon, a graduate of the Wharton School of Finance, and Gordon, who together led the reorganization of the business, taking it public as the Stouffer Corporation in 1929 with Abraham as chairman of the board.