Gf Store?

[Guest memoryofaspyn]

Hello all, I have just been dx with Celiac, I have been shopping around and I am very disappointed with the stores we have, and how they are organized. every where i went they had gluten-free products mixed in with products that contained gluten, I spent an hour in the store and came out with 4 things.

Have any of you thought of opening a store in your area? And if so how would you go about doing something like that, I am so new to this condition, and it is so confusing, it would be so nice to just go into a store and know that everything in it was something you could buy.

Thank you so much!!

[tarnalberry]

Once you get used to the layout, you'll probably find it easier. (I like knowing "where do I go for pasta? the pasta aisle" is the same gluten-free or not.) Some stores do have a gluten-free aisle, though. (I saw one like that near Detroit.)

[Guest Nukapai]

Opening a store would be a great idea. Would be good to have a "special diet" store where one section was "egg free", one "gluten free", one "lactose free" or something along those lines.

There are of course "health food" stores, but they are not always good for getting fresh things...

[Pegster]

I love Trader Joes if you have one near you. They provide a brochure filled with gluten free foods that they sell. Their prices are great. TJ just came out with new Brown Rice pastas (penne and spaghetti) that are around $1.60. They also have gluten-free frozen waffles, rice crackers, Brown Rice bread, etc. Regular grocery stores tend to have rice pasta, Kozy Shack pudding, Kraft products which are clearly labelled, Kitchen Basics soups (they come in a box and are great for recipes), etc. etc. I spend twice as long shopping as I used to. Remember that a lot of mainstream foods are gluten free, but just aren't labelled that way.

[jen-schall]

larger chain health-food/organic-focused stores tend to have good selections. Around Chicago, for example, there is Whole Foods. Around Indianapolis there is Wild Oats. If you don't know of one, you might want to google "gluten free" and the name of your town.

Also, there are a ton of gluten-free stores online. this, at first, doesn't seem nearly as convenient or nice as a grocery store down the street, but you get used to it... I buy bread from www.ener-g.com, and doughnuts and muffins from www.kinnikinnick.com, and there are so many gluten-free sellers that I still haven't visited all their sites! I really do have to plug kinnikinnick... I practically cried the first time I had their food, because it tastes REAL. the same goes for Ener-G bread. even a 12 year old non-gluten-free kid had it and said it tasted "regular."

also, there is a Gluten-Free Market in the northern suburbs of Chicago, and it's online as well, at www.glutenfreemarket.com. they have ALL kinds of stuff, and they do online orders. take some time to browse at these places and you should really feel better. hope this helps you, because for me, it made all the difference!