EXPANSION PLANS
Saratoga Olive Oil Company looking to open new store in fall
MOREAU, N.Y. » Saratoga Olive Oil Company continues to expand amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with plans to open a new store this fall.
The fourth Saratoga Olive Oil Company retail location is set to open in early October on Route 9 in Moreau, at the same site as the company’s headquarters and warehouse facility.
The new, 1,500- square-foot store will be unique to the company’s three other shops - in Saratoga Springs, Lake Placid and Burlington, Vt. - because it will offer discounted and discontinued items as well as deals for customers buying in bulk.
“It’s got a little different twist to it,” said Clint Braidwood, who owns the business along with his wife Barbara Braidwood and brother Chad Braidwood. “Almost like an outlet shop.”
All of the company’s regular products will always be in stock, too. “We’ll have a little bit of everything in that shop to pick from,” Barbara added.
On this latest expansion, “We always had it in our plans to open up the front building as retail, but it ended up happening a little quicker than we thought, which was great,” said co-owner Clint Braidwood, who founded the business along with his wife Barbara Braidwood and brother Chad Braidwood in 2011.
While many small businesses are having trouble surviving the pandemic, Saratoga Olive Oil Company has found success, especially through its e- commerce.
Thanks to the company’s extra online marketing efforts, its online sales increased by 400 percent at one point this spring, when the company was busy shipping olive oil and vinegar all around the country.
“It’s just been amazing,” Clint said, noting that their investment in advertising at an uncertain time has definitely paid off.
Currently, online sales are still trending at about 150 percent increase.
What’s selling the most are the company’s largest-sized bottles, “I think people are just embracing cooking more at home, so they’re using larger quantities and using it more liberally because they’re not going out to eat as much,” Barbara said.
This significant pandemic boost allowed the company to open the Moreau shop sooner than later. “With the extra revenue coming in, we decided to move a little bit quicker on the retail,” Clint explained. “We had the funds to be able to do it.”
Regarding recent operations at the company’s stores, Clint said retail business has been keeping afloat during the pandemic. Though the Burlington shop is struggling a bit, Lake Placid has seen better retail sales in the past few months than ever before.
In Saratoga Springs, there’s been a decrease in traffic and in- store retail sales are down about 20 percent. However, this is not as bad as the owners anticipated for a summer without crowds flocking to local destinations like Saratoga Race Course and Saratoga Performing Arts Center.
“We still see a decent amount of people coming through the door,” Barbara said. “So that’s surprising and nice to see.”
Along with some seasonal business from tourists, Clint said it’s the local community that has really supported Saratoga Olive Oil Company’s flagship store through this time.
Saratoga Olive Oil Company’s new shop is scheduled to open to the public on Friday, Oct. 2 at 1341 Saratoga Rd. in Moreau. Once open, the store’s hours will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.
More information about Saratoga Olive Oil Company can be found online at saratogaoliveoil. com.