By Claire Sachse

Olive And Then Some, a gourmet olive oil and balsamic vinegar retail store, will open Saturday, Aug. 9 at 10 a.m. at 221 E. Rutherford St. in Landrum.

Located within Landrum Antiques & Furniture, the store will feature a wide selection of ultra premium, fresh, extra virgin olive oils and 18-year aged balsamic vinegars in addition to a variety of gift items such as spices, biscuits and soaps.

Olive And Then Some is the third store for owner Sandy Burn in three and a half years. Together with her husband, Burn owns a shop on Magnolia St. in Spartanburg. The couple co-own Palmetto Olive Oil in Greenville with friends.

Burn, a former second and third grade teacher, needed convincing to go into the olive oil retail business. A trip with her husband to a similar store in Pinehurst, N.C. was the inspiration and convincing she needed. After tasting the varieties of oils and vinegars, she said, “Yeah, this will definitely be a good thing!”

Olive And Then Some will offer three sizes of bottles of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, ranging from 200 ml. to 750 ml., as well as gift packages of smaller sample sizes. There will be 26 flavored oils including blood orange, Tuscan herb, green chile and herb de provence.  The balsamic vinegar selection will include flavors such as cranberry pear, fig dark espresso, apple, black cherry, pomegranate, cinnamon pear, strawberry and raspberry. Ciabatta bread will be available for dipping.

The oils are poured into bottles from special storage urns called fustis at the time of purchase. Burn recommends using the oil within nine to 12 months from the date of purchase, and to protect it from light and heat.

Most people are skeptical about the business, said Burn. But once they sample the products most are surprised they taste so good.

“Once you’ve used a bottle of high quality balsamic vinegar, you will never go back to grocery store balsamic,” said Burn. Balsamic vinegar is low in calories and sugar, making the product good for diabetics and those on weight loss programs, according to Burns.

Burns updates the store website, OliveAndThenSome.com, frequently with recipes for appetizers, sauces, salad dressings and more that can be made with her products.

The store will be open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m.