Olive Tap, North Shore Are a Natural Fit

Since Olive Tap opened more than seven years ago in Long Grove, it has been building up a customer base in Deerfield and on the rest of the North Shore.

It did not take long for owner Rick Petrocelly to know he wanted a North Shore location. Establishing a quick success after opening his specialty gourmet market in Long Grove he knew he  wanted an additional spot near Lake Michigan.

That will happen in November when the Olive Tap opens its ninth store—fourth in the Chicago area—on First Avenue in Highland Park just north of Central Avenue.

“We’re really thrilled,” Petrocelly said of his new Highland Park location. “We’ve built up so many customers (in Deerfield) we need to better serve them.” He has been looking at different spots here for four years.

True to its name, there will be plenty of olive oil with different flavors plus a lot more. “We’ll have a collection of sauces and tapenades, a very thick sauce” Petrocelly said. “They’re used as spreads on breads.” The sauces will be appropriate as both salad dressing and barbeque.

The store will have offer a number of different pastas, seasonings, spices and seasoned peppers as well. They will be ordinary, according to Petrocelly. “None are the type you would be used to finding anywhere,” he said.

In addition to Long Grove and Highland Park, there are currently Olive Taps in Crystal Lake and Downers Grove in Chicagoland as well as other spots around the country. Petrocelly has used franchising to expand. He and wife own the stores in Long Grove and Manitou Springs, CO.

The Petrocellys have an interest in the Highland Park store which is primarily owned by a franchisee as are locations in Rhode Island, Florida and Ohio. There are franchised locations under in construction in Pittsburgh and Charlotte, NC.

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