Alton's Olive Oil Marketplace Celebrates 10 Years of "Making It An Experience"

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ALTON - Tim and Julie Meeks have always given their customer’s experience the “utmost importance” at their Alton and Belleville locations. On June 3-4, Olive Oil Marketplace is marking its 10th anniversary on Third Street in Alton with a celebration.

The celebration kicks off at 11 a.m. on Friday and continues on Saturday with free food featuring Get-R-Smoked Pulled Pork and many other OOM recipe dishes, local vendors with samples and educational discussions, and many in-store specials, raffles, and giveaways. On Friday night at 4:30, a Celebration Ceremony will take place with cake and ice cream for customers. Overall, the June 3-4 celebration should be special for the popular couple at their Alton store.

This is a link to the two-day celebration for Olive Oil Marketplace:

https://www.facebook.com/events/371851048297332

“We hope when you come into our store, you feel welcomed and comfortable,” Tim and Julie said in a statement about the stores. “We welcome customer requests and look forward to the opportunity to earn your trust and deliver to you some of the finest products Italy has to offer. We are totally committed to exceeding expectations one customer at a time. People love Julie; she has a huge personality and is wonderful at what she does.”

Julie is obviously “the face of Olive Oil Marketplace,” Tim said.

“We have a lot of customers who come through who just like to talk to Julie,” he added. “We have a lot of loyal customers that come through. We always joke around, if you are a food junkie, we have it here from oils, and balsamic products, which are the core of what we do, to dips, sauces, pastas, coffees, and teas too. We are your one little gourmet shop for fun foodie habits.”

Debbie Greenwald has been with the Olive Oil operation and made a big difference with her work, Tim said.

“Our oils and balsamic quality items are our most successful,” he said. “We introduced spices and rubs a few years back and they continue to grow.

Olive Oil Marketplace has a location at 108 W. Third St. in Alton and another in Belleville at 310 E. Main St. The Alton store is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and the Belleville store hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. Olive Oil's products are also distributed at several other area locations.

“Technically, Alton is our home, but we call Belleville our ‘satellite store,’ Tim said. "The 108 West Third location has been a good one. We do love Alton and all the people here. One thing that opened our eyes is the number of tourists who come through and also people from St. Louis and North County. The locals here have just been wonderful customers.”

One final quote by Tim perfectly summed up the Olive Oil Marketplace philosophy that might be good for other businesses to emulate:

“Our store is about selling products and educating but also making it an experience,” he said. “I think we have succeeded in making it an experience for customers here the last 10 years.”

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