The peak number of operating Dairy Barn stores was approximately 70.[3][4] Acting as a distributor for Oak Tree, the stores carried Oak Tree brand milk and iced tea.[5] Under its own label, it sold butter, cream, eggs, bacon, sausage,[6] ice cream,[7][8] orange juice,[9] and even water.[10]
Some original Dairy Barn locations remain open as retail establishments retaining the red barn theme.[11]
History
In 1941[12] Edgar Cosman, a Swiss textile manufacturer with business interests in the United States, purchased the Oak Tree Farm Dairy in Elwood on Long Island. His son, Dieter Cosman, was tasked with running it.[13][14] Under Cosman, the dairy's finances improved. During the 1950s, it stopped housing cows and began processing milk from upstate New York.[12][15][16]
Seeing the decline in its milk delivery business, Cosman expanded the dairy's wholesale milk business into a chain of retail, drive-through convenience stores named Dairy Barn in 1961.[13][17] The stores acted as distributors for Oak Tree's products, operating as a separate company and both owned by the Cosman family.[18][19]
The first store was on Larkfield Road in East Northport.[2] A store opened in Farmingdale in May 1961.[20] There were 45 stores by 1967.[21] A store opened in St. James in April 1971.[22] By 1972, there were 54 stores generating $20 million per year.[23] A 55th store was opened in Lake Ronkonkoma that year.[24] The stores implemented a recycling program in 1974 to dispose of its plastic milk containers.[25][26] Three years later, the 58-store chain had recycled 461,000 pounds of plastic.[27]
By the early 1990s, Oak Tree had become the only dairy on Long Island[28] and was trucking 18,000 gallons of milk each day from farms near Syracuse to the company's plant.[12] In 1997, a fire destroyed the dairy. It was rebuilt the following year.[29] By 1998, there were 54 Dairy Barn stores.[30] By 2005, the number had dropped to 51.[31]
In 2009, the company began downsizing and selling off its stores. By May 2010, locations in Smithtown, St. James, Patchogue, Farmingville, Center Moriches, Shirley, and Selden had been sold to a single buyer.[2] In total, 38 of the remaining Dairy Barn properties were sold to Long Island City-based Simi Enterprises.[23] The locations were rebranded as simply The Barn.[32][33][34] The Cosman family closed the Oak Tree farm and sold the land to developers in 2012.[35][36][37][38] By April 2012, there were still 19 Dairy Barn locations and 25 The Barn stores.[39][40][41] The Barn had 22 locations in 2020[42] and saw success during the COVID-19 pandemic.[43][44]
In 2021, 28 stores were leased to Greek From Greece. This agreement ended the following year. By 2022, The Barn had one location in Huntington and one in St. James.[11] By 2023, multiple independent operators were running former Dairy Barn locations under The Barn and other names.[23][45][46][47] In 2024, 10 locations were sold to Ready Coffee.[4][48][49]
References
↑Ambro, David (April 8, 1993). "Dairy Barn Seeks Kings Park Store". The Smithtown News. p.6. Retrieved August 27, 2025– via NYS Historic Newspapers.
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