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
Whatever is going one, one thing is for sure – the marketing department for Bob’s Red Mill is simply brilliant. What a way to broaden their products’ appeal. The one big risk is a cheapening of the brand as being perceived as “quality”.
Looks like I’ll be checking out Big Lots tomorrow! Haven’t been there for a few weeks.
I figured this out about 3mo ago, stocked in my freezer!
The same thing happened to me earlier this week when I shopped for the first time at our new Big Lots in my neighborhood here in Michigan. I was so surprised to see their products there…I bought some oats!
Kind of doubtful it is going that mainstream. BigLots buys closeout, or otherwise unwanted inventory & buys out inventory of stores that are closing, etc. Most likely they bought out inventory from some natural foods stores that closed up shop. Otherwise they might have bought semi loads that got rejected from another store/chain for some unknown reason (often sell by date doesn’t meet the store’s criteria).
My MIL works at Big Lots and I got organic gluten free pancake mix there for $2.80 – and then I got her discount and that made it even less! I love it! You just reminded me that I have to stock up when my MIL comes to town!
I always check Big Lots and TJ Maxx for surprise healthy buys. It’s hit or miss, but usually worth it if I find something I use.
A local reader here in Tampa FL saw them at her Big Lots too and the expiration dates were fine. So stock up since it seems it might be a one time thing until they run out – $3.50 per bag is a pretty great price!
Interesting post. Are these products dated? A third possibility is that they were unsold backstock from a warehouse, etc.
Bob’s Redmill must be easy to work with. My local grocery stores carry them and they don’t carry a whole lot of products like that in these parts. I had this same type of moment in Big Lots several years ago when I found Organic Cereal there of all places. They must have some outlets that other big box stores do not.