Contributor Julissa Treviño sends us this report about Oliver’s opening in Fort Worth…
The storefront sign is now up at soon-to-open Oliver’s Fine Foods, a family-owned local and gourmet food market in downtown Fort Worth. The store will provide a selection of foods, wine and beer, as well as a deli, a butcher shop and catering to downtown residents.
“The number one most-requested use is a grocery,” Johnny Campbell, President and CEO of Sundance Square, told NBCDFW last month. According to Campbell, Sundance Square had been looking into putting a grocery store in the 6,600 square-foot space in the Sanger Building on Throckmorton and Fourth for two years.
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Owned by Chef Todd Bush, who received his training at the Culinary Institute of America and has culinary experience from working in privately-owned restaurants, hotels and golf clubs, the Fort Worth location has been in the works for over a year and he hopes to open before the end of fall. “We’ve been backed up so many times that I couldn’t say exactly when at this point,” he said.
Bush opened his first—and currently only—Oliver’s in Mansfield three years ago, and he’s seen success there. “We’re doing pretty good considering we opened during the recession,” he said. “I think it’ll translate really well to downtown Fort Worth.”
Downtown shoppers won’t have to worry about the quality of their food, either. The store sells gourmet products, but Bush also tries to promote as many local foods as possible. “We promote all the breweries and wineries, but some things you just can’t get here [in Texas]. And of course, we try to get as many domestic products as much as possible.”
Bush said the Fort Worth store will provide more grocery store items like dairy products, as well, to make it more convenient for Sundance Square residents who would normally have to drive to do their shopping.
“Anything that’s sold in a market, we can sell in there,” said Bush.
