North Augusta is getting a gourmet grocer: Town Square Olive Oil & Wine opens soon

May 28, 2023

North Augusta reporter

Town Square Olive Oil & Wine, the family-owned gourmet grocer with olive oil and wine bar that got its start in Covington, Ga., is opening in downtown North Augusta by early fall.

“I’m ready to get going on this,” said Tia Harville, who’s one half of the husband-and-wife duo opening the store at 509 Georgia Ave. It was husband Joey Harville’s aunt who opened the Covington store about eight years ago.

The hope, Tia said, is that the North Augusta location will start decanting its oils and vinegars by Aug. 17 — this month’s Third Thursday.

Beyond the 30 or so varieties of specialty olive oils and vinegars, Town Square stocks gourmet grocery items: stuffed olives, pastas and pasta sauces, charcuterie items, local dairy, cheeses and cured meats.

Some of it — the stuffed olives — is private label. “Our little recipes,” Tia said. Other items — the oils and vinegars — are imported by a Greek supplier, Laconiko.

Some 30 "fustis" (pronounced foo-sties) line the walls at Town Square Olive Oil & Wine in downtown North Augusta. Just one company, Sansone in Italy, makes the urns specially equipped for decanting oils and vinegars.

“They actually press the garlic with the olives when they press them. It’s all naturally infused with real ingredients. Same with their vinegars. They take fresh fruit – Greece has great fruit — and they press that with the grapes,” Tia said. “They put a lot of heart and soul into it, and you can tell."

The Harvilles aren’t new to business. The two opened the Shuckin’ Shack Oyster Bar in Summerville in 2015 and then sold it to a business partner when they moved from the Charleston area to North Augusta.

And opening Town Square has been comparatively easy. “We kind of went into this just like, ‘if it’s meant to happen then it will happen, and we’ll just trust God and He’ll provide,’” Tia said, contrasting the venture to the oyster bar, “where we were nickel-and-diming everything. It was a very tight budget.”

“We’re both very entrepreneurial,” she added. “And honestly, my husband would like to have a small restaurant again.”

The small kitchen in back isn’t a full commercial kitchen, but it does give the Harvilles and their staff the chance to make their charcuterie boards to order, to freshly slice the meats, or for Joey — he’s the cook; Tia’s the baker — to make a dish that throws into relief the flavor in one of those specialty vinegars.

Part of the plan for Town Square is to partner with local restaurants to offer their olive oils wholesale. Another part of the plan is to offer tastings and put together tutorials for how incorporate, say, an olive oil infused with blood orange or a balsamic vinegar that has notes of blackberry and ginger.

“I hired some really awesome girls that know way more than I do," Tia laughed. It’s those three whom Tia said will be integral to guiding shoppers through their visit to Town Square.

Preserves and jarred peaches will be available at Town Square Olive Oil & Wine, expected to open at 509 Georgia Ave. in North Augusta later this month or early next.

“I want people to come in here and kind of feel like they're at home […] I’m hoping that is just becomes part of the community and people like coming in just feel comfortable,” she said. “And we want to kind of be that middle ground where people can, instead of driving to Publix or Kroger that’s just past this, to stop here instead.”

That's a big reason why the Harvilles will carry some of the grocery basics, like dairy and take-and-bake bread. And locally-sourced honeys and syrups.

Tia said the store will curate its wine selections over time, trying out different varieties to see what’s popular here in North Augusta.

It’s about having and doing what people want, she said. It’s a philosophy that’s carried over from when she and Joey owned the Summerville oyster bar.

“Our thing was, if we can do it, we’re going to do it for you,” she said. “If you want something off the menu and we have the ingredients, we’ll do it. That’s the same philosophy we’ll have here. If we can do something, why not? Why say ‘No’ when it’s so easy just to say ‘Yes’?”

Town Square Olive Oil & Wine is expected to open at 509 Georgia Ave. late August or early September. Hours will be Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Sunday, 1-7 p.m. Get updates on opening day by visiting the Facebook page, “Town Square Olive Oil & Wine – North Augusta."

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Elizabeth Hustad covers politics, government and business for The Post and Courier North Augusta. Follow her on Twitter at @ElizabethHustad.

North Augusta reporter

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