STAR, Idaho — A husband-and-wife team in Star has turned their passion for cooking, entertaining, and community into a gourmet kitchen and gift shop loaded with unique finds.
Angie and Dan McGetrick moved to Star in 2017 and opened the Milled Olive in August 2019 — just months before COVID-19 hit. They credit the Star community with helping them get through it.
"Thanks to the community of Star, we powered through the COVID situation and so we are still here thriving and surviving," Angie said.
Made in Idaho: The Milled Olive in Star
The store started with olive oils, vinegars, olives, seasonings and pastas. When COVID hit, and people were cooking more at home and limited in where they could shop, the McGetricks expanded to meet the need — adding cookware, baking items, kitchenware and eventually home decor and gifts.
"It just morphed into a gift shop slash home decor slash kitchen and all that kind of stuff," Angie said.
Today the store carries more than 95 imported oils and vinegars — the largest selection in the Northwest, according to the McGetricks. Balsamics come from Modena, Italy. Oils are sourced from Chile, Greece, Spain and Italy. The store also carries approximately 60 types of stuffed olives and around 70 to 80 dips, toppings and spreads.
Beyond oils and vinegars, the Milled Olive carries high-end kitchen brands including Smeg, Le Creuset, GreenPan, Hestan, and Misen cookware. The store also carries professional chef's knives, Riedel crystal glasses, Nora Fleming serveware, McKenzie-Childs pieces, charcuterie boards and accessories, fresh frozen handmade raviolis shipped overnight on dry ice, spices, rubs, sea salts, jams, jellies, local honey, bread mixes, coffees, teas and fudge made with cream and butter from an off-site kitchen.
An Idaho wall features city towels, huckleberry products, Idaho Candy Company items and other locally themed gifts — popular with out-of-town visitors.
Angie said the store also carries the Anchorsha stand mixer, which won Best Stand Mixer from America's Test Kitchen, so customers can see it in person before buying.
The store also offers corporate gift baskets, realtor closing baskets and home builder gifts, with complimentary gift wrapping and shipping available.
Dan said the community's input has shaped what the store carries.
"The community has been great as far as supporting, and we try to also match their needs to what we have as well. So if there's something that they're looking for, we always look at, okay, maybe that's something we need to look at bringing in because they can't find it anywhere else."
Dan said the goal is always to find the highest quality products at a reasonable price.
"We try to find unique products that are either locally made or small batch companies that make unique products, so we're always trying to find those type of items to bring in to have something different that you're not gonna find at your typical grocery store," Dan said.
The original location is compact but packed with character.
"As you can see, this is a very small space, so we've put a lot of items in here, to where it's very full, but it makes it kind of fun," Dan said.
In September, the McGetricks opened a second location four doors down to house their seasonal decor and gift items after the original store started bursting at the seams. The second location is currently themed around the Fourth of July and America's 250th anniversary, with patriotic decor, wedding and anniversary items, botanical and floral pieces, Tyler candles and a line of goat's milk olive oil products — bars, lotions, massage oil and body butters — made by a friend who owns the olive orchard and the goats and does custom branding for the store.
Dan said the second location will keep evolving.
"This store will always be changing through all the different seasons, so it'll always be something new and fresh to come in and see," Dan said.
Over 7 years in business, the McGetricks said the store has become more than a shop — it has become a gathering place and a community.
"We've kind of created a little bit of family in the community as well. We have ladies who've come in that were getting ready to get married, and then they get pregnant and have a baby, and so now we know their little ones," Angie said.
"We want people to come in and feel like we're not only educating them on things, but we're kind of part of their family," Angie said.
Dan said Star's growth has been remarkable since they opened.
"Star has exploded, and anybody that's been through here knows — the construction right now is crazy with the state trying to catch up with the roads. We've seen a massive amount of growth in the short time we've been open."
He joked that the traffic situation has changed dramatically since their early days.
"When we first opened, I was trying to slow all the cars down State Street so they would see us, because they would zoom by at 40, 50 miles an hour. And now, 5 o'clock, it's a parking lot out there. So I kinda got what I wished for," Dan said.
Angie said she hopes the store's success can be part of a broader shift back toward shopping local.
"Instead of someone just sitting on their phone and clicking on, you know, Amazon and saying, oh well I need this or I need that, you know, get out, you know, explore, come in, support the business."
"The small businesses are the ones that if you want a donation, they do the donations, and the money stays in the community as opposed to going somewhere else. I hope that we can get back to people shopping small and local and supporting your mom and pop businesses," Angie said.
Customers can sign up for the Milled Olive's monthly newsletter at themilledolive.com to stay up to date on new arrivals and upcoming events.
The Milled Olive is open six days a week in Star from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with the second location just four doors down for seasonal gifts and home decor.
