Crystal City branches out in the Southern Tier

• Crystal City opened in Corning in 2012%2C then Owego in 2013 and then Vestal in 2014.
• Bob and Wendy lived in Dutchess County for 40 years. Bob worked as a social worker%3B Wendy as a RN.
• Crystal City's owners are currently scouting out a few more locations.

Business: Crystal City Olive Oil.

Owners: Bob and Wendy Oppenheim, of Owego. Bob is 61, and Wendy is 63.

Locations: 2 W. Market St. in Corning, 186 Front St. in Owego, and 1708 Vestal Parkway East in Vestal.

Started: 2012.

Employees: 13.

Crystal City Olive Oil sells high-end, high-quality olive oil, extra virgin olive oil, fused and infused olive oils and balsamic vinegars. All of our products are imported, except for one of our specialty oils, which is a butternut squash seed oil that comes from Geneva.

The olive oils we sell come from all over the world, but the balsamic vinegars all come from Modena, Italy.

The olive oils we sell are fresh. They are the real deal. There's a lot of fraud going on in the olive oil industry, so consumers have to be very careful about where they buy their oil.

Since we opened our first store in Corning on Nov. 10, 2012, our business has been very well received by the community. People really appreciate good, quality olive oil.

We opened our second location in Owego on Oct. 11, 2013. And on Aug. 29, we opened our third Crystal City Olive Oil on Vestal Parkway East in Vestal.

Entry: Wendy and Bob lived in Dutchess County for 40 years until moving to Corning about four years ago. Bob worked as a clinical social worker, and Wendy as a registered nurse.

When Wendy was working in New York City, she frequently went to specialty stores and really found a difference in the olive oils there compared to those sold at a grocery store. When the couple moved to Corning, the nearest specialty store selling olive oil was more than an hour away. One day, Bob went with Wendy on one of her olive oil runs.

Bob soon after told Wendy, "Corning could really use a store like that. You're retired. Why don't you open one?"

While Wendy laughed at the idea at first, she drove down West Market Street in Corning three days after the conversation and found a vacant storefront. And in November 2012, Crystal City Olive Oil started.

Future Plans: We have actually started scouting out a few more locations. But we're not quite sure yet. We plan to lay low for a while in terms of expanding.

For right now, we have three locations across the Southern Tier. We'll wait and see what happens.

As told to Press & Sun-Bulletin staff writer Jon Harris. Follow him on Twitter @PSBJonHarris.