Two skeptics and one believer to start a new Old Town olive oil and vinegar business

A new business is opening in Old Town Square that “just happened on a fluke” when Wichita friends Cindy Fortune, Diana Meyer and Kim Miller were vacationing in Miller’s former home of Ohio earlier this year.

There was an olive oil store she wanted to visit, but her friends were not game.

“They were like, ‘Aw, what are we going to do in an olive oil store?’ and just rolled their eyes,” Miller said.

The hardest part was getting them out of the car to go in.

By the time they left, Miller said Fortune and Meyer each had four bottles of olive oil and another four bottles of vinegar in their hands.

“By the time we hit the car, Viva La Olive was born,” Miller said.

The store is opening in the former Bella Luz space that faces Old Town Square at 300 N. Mead. It will offer more than 60 flavors of olive oil and vinegar from places such as Peru, Italy and Greece.

Other than convincing her friends to go in the Ohio olive oil store, Miller said the next hardest thing was figuring out a name for their business.

Meyer called her one night at 10 p.m.

“I’ve got the name,” she said. “The Clobbered Olive.”

Miller replied, “You need to go to sleep.”

Viva La Olive means “long live the olive” in Italian.

Wichita previously had two olive oil stores called Olio’s Market, and Miller said the former owners have been generous sharing their experiences and knowledge.

“They were very helpful.”

Miller, who used to be a partner in an Ohio gift store, will run the business. Fortune is in the life insurance business, and Meyer is a nurse who manages a kidney dialysis unit.

The store will have a small on-site oven for freshly baked bread so customers can taste the products.

“We’ll explain to you the health benefits and explain to you how to use it,” Miller said.

She said that could be how to cook with olive oil or how to use it to improve your hair and skin.

“A lot of people drink straight olive oil every day for the health benefit,” Miller said. “I’m Italian, so I drink the stuff.”

She said she plans to sprinkle the bread with her own blend of herbs, which she’ll also sell.

There will be corporate gifts and gift baskets, too, Miller said, for “a lot of unique things.”

She’s decorating the store in what she called an old world style.

“It’s going to be cute.”

The store is opening Oct. 8. It will be closed Sundays and Mondays and be open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Miller said she and her partners chose Old Town Square for its foot traffic.

“It’s got the vibe that‘ll handle a store like this.”