The Southern Olive — Attraction in Fort Mill

I'm torn between loving the store and my experience. Read the sign about the sale on the door then walked in. We were greeted by an older lady who tells us they are having a sale. I said yeah, I...before I could finish my statement, she asked if I saw it online. I said no, I read the sign on the door. Oh! Well is there something I can help you with? (Mind you, I'm still at the door) I said no...we're just out and about today...then looked at the items on the shelves by the door. The lady just stood there for a while staring at us. AWKWARD! She eventually walks away and I move further into the store. Not too long after, we're greeted by an older gentleman. He does take a minute to tell me about the oil process and flow of the store. 👍 They both check on us periodically but halfway through "the wall", he walks over to me and says, "Make sure you a different cup each time or they will all taste the same." My response-"Well yeah, not to mention for sanitation too." 🤷‍♀️ We started finding quite a few things we wanted so my husband asked if they had any baskets. The lady said no but we could start putting them on the counter. I made sure whatever we put up there was to the side and out of the way. I guess I took too long or something because by time I got to the counter, the man had already rung up my stuff. He also kept asking if I was getting anything else in a way that made you not want to get anything else. I did add a keto dessert and felt I needed to wrap this up.

After spending a decent amount of money, especially for a 1st visit, he flipped the tablet around and told me to sign up for rewards since I'll probably qualify my next visit. I know he said more things and gave me a paper about something but I don't really remember after that. The little incidences of condescension (like also being asked if I knew the benefits of olive oil) were already making me question whether or not I should have spent any money here. Anywho, I decided to try the dessert while my husband was engaging in a very "faith-based" conversation with a man who came in while I was still shopping. I was so disappointed in the dessert. It's hard to explain, it just wasn't good at all! I didn't complain since I chose to buy it but lesson learned. I left doubly disappointed since accidentally stumbling upon some rave reviews led me here but I was happy to find a type of business that I can get interesting items and not have to keep making my own. Perhaps we didn't fit their typical customer profile which is really too bad my love for and study of food could have led to many purchases.

1/19/20- Sometimes you just need to take feedback and investigate opportunities for improvement. Formally educated as a chef, I have been low carb for 6 years, "keto adapted" since July due to dietary issues with sugars and carbohydrates, and am currently pursuing holistic nutrition as a proponent of the healing powers of food. I checked with my husband (who is none of those things) before offering my review and he was in agreement that our visit was disappointing. I shouldn't have to give my whole life story as a justification for my experience but...

I often give a rating, but don't write reviews, either because I'll only echo what everyone else is said, or because nothing good or bad enough to be particularly memorable stands out. My experience here stood out, so I wanted to make sure I wrote a review this time!

We had been casually poking around for a gluten free bakery for a while, but not paying any particular mind, until our daughter graduated high school this week. I had seen The Southern Olive before, but assumed they were miscategorized, or something like that. After all, what is a store who sells fancy olive oils doing saying that they are a bakery?

Well, I decided to actually look into them a bit, and found out that they do, in fact, have a bakery. I gave them a call - 24 hours' notice, mind you, for which I was extremely apologetic - and they were able to make me a cake for pickup the next day. I'm quite sure they weren't very happy about that, but they never uttered a word of discontentment. As a matter of fact, everyone in the place is EXTREMELY nice. A very welcoming experience.

Now let's talk about the cake. WOW! First, they knocked it out of the park. For 24 hours' notice, this cake was gorgeous. Honestly way better than I expected, and much prettier than I thought it would be. They did a fantastic job, and my daughter absolutely loved it!!

Gluten-free baked goods are sort of a dark art... It takes an immense amount of time to concoct something that tastes good, isn't too dry or crumbly, etc. Well, these people must have put in some SERIOUS time, because this is, by far, the best gluten-free cake I have ever had! The cake was extremely moist, and VERY delicious!

We also had the vegan icing, as my wife and daughter are allergic to dairy. The icing was also delicious! If I nitpick at all, there was probably a bit too much icing, and it's probably a tiny bit too fluffy for my tastes - but those are really just preferences, and absolutely do not reflect on the bakery at all!

The cake was inexpensive for a gluten-free product, absolutely delicious, beautiful, and I was able to pick it up from the very friendly and helpful staff, extremely quickly. The Southern Olive is a rare example of a place that DESERVES that 5-star rating. Thank you so much, we will definitely be giving you our business again!!! This time, we know you're there, so we will give you plenty...

Bakers are extremely mean-spirited. I was in the store over the holidays to pick up items. I overheard a lady named Jill talking about a customer that just left without a Christmas gift order she had placed & paid for. Apparently, when the customer arrived her order was paid for but not there. 4 different employees kept saying her order was there, but they now had no idea where it was.

After the lady left, Jill (the baker) stated that she didn’t care if the customer left without her order and that she didn’t want the customer to have the order based on what sounded like a previous experience. I was blown away by how comfortable she was being openly mean and at how justified she felt because of who the lady was. She did not even care that other customers could hear her opinion.

Even though it was the holiday, the employees were extremely disorganized and all over the place. They even offered the lady someone else’s order. I left without them helping or really even noticing me. One employee was right outside the front door on the phone. Another employee who came from the back to put items in the display, (with long hair, with no net or covering) came near the register to tell the lady, in a confrontational tone, “the order was here, it’s just there now”.

Neither baker had on gloves when touching the food. An employee showing other customers olive oil kept licking her fingers as she handled oils and never cleansed her hands. While I have heard good things about the store’s options, I will not order from a business who’s employees discriminate against and treat paying customers, this way. I would never trust the product if employees are free to be selective & hold grudges against customers they do not like or have had some previous issues with. It’s unfortunate that this type of mean-spirited vindictiveness exists in the food industry. It is far more surprising that these people are entrusted with the food, products, orders and overall...