"I think it will be a great location for us," Melanie Cedargren, founder and owner of The Spicy Olive, told this news outlet regarding the space at 2510 Far Hills Ave., which previously housed Madame Delluc Artisan Chocolatier.
Credit: Mark Fisher
Credit: Mark Fisher
Cedargren launched The Spicy Olive in 2012, creating a business that specializes in fresh and flavored olive oils from throughout the world as well as in aged balsamic vinegars from Modena, Italy. Its three locations are in Montgomery, to which its Hyde Park store recently relocated; West Chester; and the Austin Landing store in Miami Twp., which opened in 2015.
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The Spicy Olive owner said the Austin Landing store is in a section of Austin Landing that has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. “We are looking for more foot traffic” at the new Oakwood location, Cedargren said.
The Austin Landing location at 3650 Rigby Road will shut down “probably in the next week or so” to pave the way for the relocation to Oakwood, Cedargren said.
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“I’m hoping for the end of July” to open the Oakwood shop, she said.
Cedargren, a breast-cancer survivor and Lakota High School graduate, was inspired to launch her business after a vacation to Europe.
"I noticed how good the olive oil tasted in Italy, and it didn't taste the same here," Cedargren told the JournalNews in 2017. "What I had in the pantry in my home didn't taste anything like what I had experienced when I was on vacation. That started to make me aware of it, and I started to question why it tasted so different. Then, I learned a lot about olive oil and the health benefits that are associated with it, and I decided that we deserve to be able to have fresh, good-tasting olive oil as well. And, that led to opening the store."
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The Spicy Olive shop in West Chester includes a wine shop — and wine may be part of the new Oakwood store’s future.
The West Chester store is hosting virtual wine tastings every other week, “and our customers really enjoy them. We have had winemakers from Austria, France and California lead our tastings,” Cedargren told this news outlet this morning, July 16.
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“There has been some interest in wine in Oakwood, and I may add wines at a later date,” she said.
In the meantime, The Spicy Olive’s West Chester wine shop will be able to deliver wines and wine baskets to the Oakwood area, Cedargren said.
For more information, check out www.thespicyolive.com.
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