May 16, 2019

Olive Destination is closing one of its two stores.

The location for extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar at Dawley Farm Village on the east side of Sioux Falls will close no later than May 24, said Leo Reynolds, whose wife, Sandra, owns the business.

“We’re disappointed we had to close that, but it’s for the good of the business and the good of our customer base,” Reynolds said. “It’s the right thing to do.”

The Reynolds decided not to renew their lease at the east-side retail center. “The lease is up, so that gives us a chance to evaluate,” he said. “We have some future strategies that we think we can do better out of one location.”

Olive Destination opened its first store at 57th Street and Louise Avenue in November 2011 and expanded to Dawley Farm in November 2015.

Staffing also was an issue for two locations because of the importance of educating customers about its high-quality products, Reynolds said. The balsamic vinegars are barrel-aged from 10 to 18 years and the extra virgin olive oils are truly extra virgin. “That’s almost never the case,” he said, even with products that are labeled as such. “We have the chemistry information on our labels, and they’re tested by independent labs before we accept them.”

The Reynolds will move their inventory to their other store but are offering discounts of 10 percent and 15 percent on bottles.

Editor’s note: The ownership of the store has been corrected since the article was first published.