Are you new to bakery outlets?
Posted
May 01 2009, 02:37 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Bakery outlets, as Charlie at Pay Less for Food recently learned, have been unfairly characterized -- and he used to be one of those who misjudged them.
"My impression of bakery outlets had always been one that viewed them as small dingy places selling stale or outdated food that had been rejected by local supermarkets," he wrote. In fact, some people call them "day-old" or "used" bread stores.
That is so untrue, he explains in a post called "How to buy bread and bakery products so cheap you think you're stealing."
Is there one near you? He can help you find it.
We rarely buy bread in the supermarket because we have a Sweetheart outlet in town. The deals are substantial: One loaf of Standish Farms bread is $1.65, and you get a better discount by buying three for only $4.85 total. We keep one out and freeze the extra loaves.
Our store sells many varieties of bread and baked goods, plus dried spices, gravy mixes, jams and jellies, as well as other foods.
Among the things Charlie found:
- The bread is shipped right from the company bakery, so it's very fresh.
- If the items are on the shelves long enough to get within a few days of the sell-by date, the prices are reduced even more and they're moved to a separate shelf. "As I found out, this is the point at which many savvy shoppers stock up," Charlie wrote.
- Some outlets give senior citizens an additional discount.
- Three companies are big in the outlet business, although there are others as well.
- Interstate Brands Companies, which includes Wonder/Hostess and Sweetheart stores. Click here to find your local store.
- Entenmann's, which also has an online store locator.
- Sara Lee. Charlie couldn't find an online locator, and neither could we. He suggests you use a search engine to find the nearest store. We did a search for "Sara Lee outlet" and found quite a list.
- Donuts freeze very well.
Charlie is now a bakery outlet convert, and he's in frugal company. He said, "Once skeptical of bakery outlets, it now actually pains me to pay full price for my English muffins, cakes, cookies, and other snacks at the supermarkets on the rare occasions I can't make it to my local bakery outlet."
Related reading:
Scenes from the ‘used bread store'
What's in your fridge?
Will a freezer save you money?
