I got a big shock this afternoon while shopping at our neighborhood Big Lots store.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Big Lots, it’s like a dollar store only bigger with a much wider selection of consumer goods.
As I walked quickly up and down the aisles trying to find a cheap, medium sized cooler, I suddenly came to a screeching halt when I spied out of the corner of my eye…
No it can’t be!
There in plain view on one of the main aisle end caps …
A prominent and very wide selection of Bob’s Red Mill Baking Supply Products!
I stopped and took this picture because it still hasn’t actually registered in my brain that this is indeed what I saw with my own two eyes.
Talk about out of place!
Nestled in amongst the cases of jumbo bags, boxes, and cans of ultra cheap, junky, no redeeming quality whatsoever, processed foods is this healthy selection of whole, grain based foods that appeals to Real Food Snobs like me!
Organic quinoa, old fashioned rolled oats, flaxseed meal, 7 grain hot cereal, even some gluten free pancake mix … bag after bag of stuff you would expect to find on an endcap at the healthfood store.  Such products are not typically found even at a grocery store (unless in the very small “healthfood section”) let alone a Big Lots (I consider Big Lots a step down even from the supermarket).
Granted, few of the products were organic and there was no arrowroot powder to be found (that really would have wigged me out as I had just picked up a bag of Bob’s RedMill Arrowroot powder earlier in the day at the healthfood store to whip up some grain free ginger snaps for the kids’ lunches).
From what I can surmise, this aberration at the neighborhood Big Lots means one of two things:
- The Southeast Regional buyer for Big Lots is a major health nut.
- Real Food is indeed making some serious inroads into mainstream America.
I tend to think the latter reason is most plausible. There is no way a buyer for Big Lots would put his/her career on the line ordering a bunch of healthfood type products to be displayed so prominently on the endcap of a main aisle unless a profit could reliably be made – no matter what his/her culinary predilections.
So, here I am, still in shock at seeing Real Food products in a budget conscious, stripped down, bare bones retail establishment.
Have you had a Twilight Zone moment with Real Food in an unconventional setting? Tell us about it!
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist.com
me too yesterday hey? you followig me? lol
big lots sells overstocks.. it’s an overstock store which means stuff here did not sell well thus being at big lots!
I know why.. BIG LOTS is to sell overstocks from other stores. So no one bought this at some store so it was sold to big lots who is selling it now.
Has nothing to do with anything else.
Yes, exactly. Some other store bought a big inventory, it didn’t sell well, so they off-loaded it to biglots.
I noticed the exact same thing a few weeks ago! I was dissapointed they didn’t have coconut flour, almond flour, or whey though…
They sell it at the Christmas Tree Shop too!!
Arrowroot is so expensive and I bought 1 bag about 3 months ago. I wasn’t aware you should keep it in frig and it went bad. (had a terrrible smell) So i just bought another b ag yesterday which will stay in frig. I want to make the gingersnaps also and was thinking that my sprouted wheat would be cheaper. What do you think Sarah? Is arrowroot lower in gluten or carbs?
Our Big Lots got a selection of Bob’s Red Mill in, too, but mostly gluten-free mixes. We have an Ocean State Job Lot store here, too and they have a much larger section of real foods at discount prices.
I’m like Kelli- I get my olive oil and unrefined sea salt at Marshall’s or Home Goods in the gourmet section, as well as Maine Root and Dry sodas (both cane sugar sodas, no nastiness, and Dry has about 1/3 the sugar of other sodas) and PFOA free non-stick pans. Brilliant stuff! And Ollie’s (similar to Big Lots, but usually with more interesting merchandise and a bit cheaper) often has sea salt and I’ve recently found organic herb packets (1 TBS or possibly 1tsp pre-measured herbs and spices). My mom bought Good Health olive oil chips super cheap at a nearby discount grocer (same idea- they buy old/damaged stock that’s still good). This store is owned by an organic farm which sells their organic, heirloom produce (amazing tomatoes) in front of the store, so it’s really not that weird to find good foods inside too.
I have experienced this same phenomenon at many of the local grocery stores I frequent. Bob’s RedMill seems to be a great first step for many markets, and hopefully a harbinger of more to come!
Is Bob’s Red Mill sea salt okay to use. I bought it once when I couldn’t get my regular brand, it was a good price but is snow white which in previous videos you had stated if it is pure white it isn’t quality sea salt so I went back to my regular brand which is a gray color.