Bringing a smile to the lips, the word bodacious speaks volumes. Along with saying that something is remarkable and bold, the adjective further conveys the exuberance of the person who chooses such an expressive word. Without question, bodacious aptly describes one of downtown Pensacola’s most recently cultivated businesses, The Bodacious Olive, as well as the store’s founders. Tucked away at the iconic corner of Palafox and Main Streets in downtown Pensacola is a little something for everyone. With an olive oil store, a coffee shop, a kitchenware store, and a chopped salad bar all in one epicurean market, what more could the downtown shopper and diner want? The Bodacious Olive, the Bodacious Brew, SoGourmet, the Wine Shop at SoGourmet, and SoChopped together make up the Bodacious Family of Shops.
soon live, SoGo and the rest of downtown Pensacola credit the early adaptors—bold business owners who moved into abandoned spaces—as well as philanthropic investors, namely Rishy and Quint Studer, for breathing new life into an area that not so long ago seemed lost to the past.
Quint and Rishy Studer, owners of the shops, say that their vision was to build a place where people could shop, learn, and experience great coffee, food, wine, and kitchenware. “We want the Bodacious Family of Shops to feel like home for our customers,” says Rishy, “as if they were visiting an old friend or going to a family reunion. We love to cook together, share recipes, share a glass of wine or a cup of coffee, and we want our customers to feel that way too.”
Like many cities, Pensacola’s downtown fell into decline when businesses and homeowners moved to outlying neighborhoods. Hurricanes Ivan in 2004 and Dennis in 2005 could have hastened the destructive path, but the Studers endeavored to turn the tide.
The Bodacious Olive will entertain your senses and captivate your palate with an array of the finest artisanal olive oils and balsamic vinegars on the market. The Bodacious Olive also offers gourmet salts and handmade pastas and sauces. Having awakened their customers’ taste buds, the Studers also opened SoChopped, a chopped salad bar overflowing with garden-fresh selections, and the Bodacious Brew, a coffee shop that offers a variety of the best coffees, teas, and freshly made baked goods. Right upstairs is SoGourmet, a place committed to the joys of cooking and entertaining— from cooktop to tabletop. Customers can shop for unique culinary tools, cookware, and table settings, and they can also book private events or sign up for SoGourmet’s weekly cooking classes and demonstrations. For wine lovers and wine learners, the Wine Shop at SoGourmet is the place to be, offering wine classes and daily tastings of wine selections from around the world.
“Traveling, I would see vibrant downtowns,” says Quint, who is known worldwide as the founder of the Studer Group, a private health-care consulting company he founded in 1999 after serving as president of Baptist Hospital in Pensacola. By 2002, Modern Healthcare, the health-care industry’s go-to resource, named Studer one of the “Top 100 Most Powerful”
Incidentally, “So” is short for South—a nod to the SoGo District. Nicknamed by the merchants, SoGo, a colloquial for “south of Government,” refers to a stretch along Pensacola’s historic Palafox Street that begins south of Government Street. Evolving as the place to shop, dine, work, and POR TOFINO LIFE 2015/2016
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