F. Oliver's

With locations in downtown Canandaigua, Park Avenue in Rochester, and The Commons in Ithaca, F. Oliver's is a retail store that sells premium extra virgin olive oils and aged balsamic vinegars. "We feature both flavor-infused products as well as single varietal extra virgin olive oils and aged balsamic vinegars — all of which are bottled right at the store and offered for tasting," explained Penelope Pankow, owner of F. Oliver's.

"Our focus is on quality and partnering with other small, local businesses." Pankow emphasized. "Our olive oils are remarkably fresh ultra-premium oils seasonally sourced from both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Our balsamic vinegars are produced in Modena, Italy, by a premium balsamic house. And our customer service is exemplary, serving as another example of our quality principles." F. Oliver's works with an independent graphic artist, a freelance photographer, and features products by a small local pottery maker and local food product producers. F. Oliver's also connects with neighboring merchants, merchants associations, and business development groups at each store location.

Pankow feels that partnering with WXXI enables F. Oliver's to support quality programming in the area while simultaneously building awareness of the F. Oliver's brand: "Many customers comment that they heard about us on WXXI. The underwriting announcements on WXXI are brief and informative. Listeners actually hear these announcements rather than change the channel. An additional benefit to partnering with WXXI is that we are supporting a valuable resource in our community at a very reasonable cost."

F. Oliver's will be offering classes and educational tasting events in 2013. On a personal note, Pankow starts and ends her day with AM 1370 and its affiliated stations (WRUR 88.5) in both Rochester and in Ithaca (WITH 90.1). Her favorites include Morning Edition and All Things Considered, Fresh Air, Open Tunings, World Cafe, Wait! Wait! Don't Tell Me!, as well as Classical 91.5 during her Ithaca commute!