Home Economist Speciality Foods

In some prior thread, I mentioned that this local chain seems to be struggling, reflecting perhaps the current prejudice against carbohydrates, the declining interest in bulk foods, and the availability of many of their more exotic items (e.g. rice flour pasta) at Whole Foods and Trader Joes. But they are still with us, and I for one am grateful.

I visited the store in LaGrange Park this afternoon, conveniently (for me, unfortunately for them) just up the street from Trader Joes. As I mentioned before, they've stopped their experiments with butchers and frozen goods, though they still have a fair cheese and deli selection and some fresh baked goods. As always, and remember that Halloween is around the corner, they have an enormous assortment of bulk candy at very reasonable prices. They also have a very broad assortment of nuts, again at a fraction of what you would pay at Jewel, and lots of snack-y things like sesame sticks and pretzels. Lots of different rices, pasta, dried soup mixes. They don't compete with Penzey's or the Spice House, but if they are more convenient to you than either of those speciality stores, you'll also find the bulk spices you want and some you may not have thought of. I noticed powdered alfalfa.

Their real appeal, though, is to bakers. Think of your King Arthur flour catalog, and then think how nice it would be to get all those speciality flours without paying their incredible (though I'm sure, as they assert, actual) shipping costs. A huge assortment of wheat flours--bleached, unbleached, whole wheat, soft, hard, cake, semolina--in all sorts of combinations. Rye berries and rye flours, spelt, millet, rice flours, corn flours in several variations. Yeast at $3.49 per pound ! As I've posted in response to the request elsewhere in this forum, they are happy to sell you their flours in the 25 pound bags they come in, provided they don't expect to run out before the week is over, and will always sell them to you by special request.

For cake and cookie makers they also have lots of colored sugars, candied fruit, etc as well.

Besides the yeast, the other thing I always pick up is the 8.5 ounce box of Maldon salt @$5.19, cheaper than any other local place I know.

Home Economist Speciality Foods
419 N. LaGrange Rd
LaGrange Park, IL
708 352 1514

906 S. Northwest Highway
Barrington, IL
847 382 4204

Cass Harbor Center
6382 Cass Ave
Westmont, IL
630 852 0214

Church Point Plaza
9163 Gross Point Road
Skokie, IL
847 674 7252


The salesclerk said there is also a store at their distribution point in Arlington Heights. Unless someone here has more information, call one of the other stores for details.

Ann Fisher wrote: Besides the yeast, the other thing I always pick up is the 8.5 ounce box of Maldon salt @$5.19, cheaper than any other local place I know.

When I first bought it there it was $3.50 a box. An 8.5oz box at the spice house is only $4.50. It's a shame the home economist has bumped their price. Maldon and the Char Crust stuff was the only reason I had to go there.

I will say that that's a very good price on yeast.

-ed

I used to buy flour there, but since the decline in business at Home Economist I've wondered if the flour turns over often enough to be fresh? I'm curious what your experience has been.

Also, I've noticed King Arthur Flour available at both Trader Joe and Whole Foods.

Giovanna

I have been to the Home Economist store on Northwest Highway perhaps ten times over the past five years. I have NO CLUE as to what they are trying to do BECAUSE every time that I go to the place, it is completely different from the lasst time.

The first time that I went there in 2000, they looked like a low-volume Trader Joes without the alcohol and the addition of bulk foods. They had a lot of freezers and refrigerated goods.

The next time, all the frozen and much of the fresh stuff was gone.

The next time, the place looked like an outlet store or SanFillippe and Sons, their parent company.

The next time, all the cheap overruns were gone as was much of the cheese.

The next time, the bulk food was in disarray and there was a ton of candy around. And the store was pretty dirty.

The staff which used to be reasonably knowledgeable and qualified has been replaced by minmum wage teenagers whose conversations you have to interrupt in order to check out.

They ought to hire someone to determine which business model they want to pursue because what they are doing now is not working.

There is very little that they carry that I cannot get CHEAPER (and better quality) 1.5 miles east at Eurofresh Market and have reasonable assurance that the product has been turning regularly which is always an issue in a low volume market.

gleam wrote:Maldon and the Char Crust stuff was the only reason I had to go there.

Ed,

I'm nodding along on the Maldon, one of my favorite salts, but Char Crust? I've used Char Crust a few times, though not for 10+ years, and my recollections are not overly positive.

I know Char Crust is a made in Chicago product, which, along with your recommendation, would incline me to give it another try. Though, truth be told, I get a pretty nice crust on a steak with just a light rub and hot lump charcoal fire.

Any meat/char crust suggestions. ? If I remember correctly, I just coated a couple of steaks, broiled, and ~shrug~.

Thanks in advance for the info.

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:

gleam wrote:Maldon and the Char Crust stuff was the only reason I had to go there.

Ed,

I'm nodding along on the Maldon, one of my favorite salts, but Char Crust? I've used Char Crust a few times, though not for 10+ years, and my recollections are not overly positive.

I know Char Crust is a made in Chicago product, which, along with your recommendation, would incline me to give it another try. Though, truth be told, I get a pretty nice crust on a steak with just a light rub and hot lump charcoal fire.

Any meat/char crust suggestions. ? If I remember correctly, I just coated a couple of steaks, broiled, and ~shrug~.

Thanks in advance for the info.

Enjoy,
Gary

Oh, it's not all that special. The "cajun" char crust is probably the best, and it's mostly good on burgers. It's very easy to replicate at home, but sometimes I'm too lazy.

I'm not a fan of the other 'flavors' of char crust -- although the garlic peppercorn is OK.

I often use it for a nostalgic touch -- char crust was used heavily at a couple restaurants I ate at as a kid, most notably Jonathan's in Lombard (which still dry-aged their prime steaks last time I was there). The steaks, if you have them blackened, are rubbed in char crust, grilled, and then topped with maitre d'hotel butter.

So don't make it a special purchase. But sometimes it's nice to have a box of the "cajun" around.

-ed

There are recipes on the Char Crust Web site, as well as some of the history of the product.

At one time, the Home Economist stores were owned by the John B. Sanfilippo Nut Co., which still maintains outlet stores at its Elk Grove and Des Plaines facilities, but I see no indication that they still have a connection. New ownership may account for the changes.

What happened? For at least a month, the LaGrange location is cleared out, empty, for lease. While I don't know that they got a lot of business, I loved shopping there. Great prices. Are the other locations still open?

kithat wrote:What happened? For at least a month, the LaGrange location is cleared out, empty, for lease. While I don't know that they got a lot of business, I loved shopping there. Great prices. Are the other locations still open?

The one in Barrington is gone. I guess they are all gone.

I drove past the one on Cass last month and it looked open. Didn't have time to stop however.

Actually, I saw an ad for the Home Economist store in Palatine recently. When I drove by, it looked open I did NOT have the time to go in and see what was available.

There is a store where the owners need to decide their strategy. They have a great location BUT ... you will not know what you are going to find.

the palatine store is no longer open - i just called and it's a different business.

the skokie store, however is still in business - a quick phonecall confirmed this.

Home Economist
9159 Gross Point Rd
Skokie, IL 60077View Map
847-674-7252

hours:
M-F 9:30am - 7pm
Sat 9am-6pm
Sun 11am-5pm

I stopped in the one on Cass in Westmont yesterday. Open as usual. Some great buys included:

Oregano at $7.99/lb (Dominicks had Caputo's oregano for $3.50/oz!)

Non-instant, non-fat dry milk at $3.49/lb I can only find instant in the supermarket and I use this in bread.

Pignolis at $14.99/lb

Dry yeast at $3.99/lb

Cayenne at $4.99/lb

They had whole wheat bread flour but the price wasn't a bargain ($1.49/lb)

The best part of shopping there...First I hit the HE, then around the corner to the Whole Foods, followed up with a stop at Dominicks and, if I feel like stopping, a quick run into the Asian market on Ogden at 83. Just what is the new name of that place anyway.

Diannie

Hi,

I was at the Home Economist in Skokie this evening. I learned the curtain is coming down on whatever remains of the Home Economist stores at the end of December. Everything in the store is 20% off.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

I was at the Home Economist in Skokie this evening. I learned the curtain is coming down on whatever remains of the Home Economist stores at the end of December. Everything in the store is 20% off.

Regards,

Thanks for the heads up. I have been shopping there for years, stopping in about every 6 months or so...I'll be sad when they're gone:(

Hi,

I'd visit sooner rather than later. As I drove up at a glance I saw their inventory had visibly dropped. I did a double-take when I saw 20% off, then saw the 'store closing' sign.

Regards,

FWIW,
the shop at
906 S. Northwest Highway
Barrington, IL


Was rebranded as a Fisher nut store but it is pretty much the same merch. as before
I live about 10 min. away and buy the bulk of my bulk items there.

Cathy2 wrote:I'd visit sooner rather than later. As I drove up at a glance I saw their inventory had visibly dropped. I did a double-take when I saw 20% off, then saw the 'store closing' sign.

Oh no! I love this place! I guess I'll be making a trip tomorrow. Is there anyplace else closer than Barrington to get bulk items?

mhill95149 wrote:FWIW,
the shop at
906 S. Northwest Highway
Barrington, IL


Was rebranded as a Fisher nut store but it is pretty much the same merch. as before
I live about 10 min. away and buy the bulk of my bulk items there.

Please double check and advise, they be in the same boat. I asked the ladies if this closing affected this location only or all locations. They responded it was a corporate decision to close all of them.

I immediately bought bulk gelatin, because it is pretty expensive in the Knorr individual packets.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:

mhill95149 wrote:FWIW,
the shop at
906 S. Northwest Highway
Barrington, IL


Was rebranded as a Fisher nut store but it is pretty much the same merch. as before
I live about 10 min. away and buy the bulk of my bulk items there.

Please double check and advise, they be in the same boat. I asked the ladies if this closing affected this location only or all locations. They responded it was a corporate decision to close all of them.

I immediately bought bulk gelatin, because it is pretty expensive in the Knorr individual packets.

Regards,

Just called and the woman on the phone at the Barrington store said that they were not closing.....

I visited the Skokie store over lunch to make sure I got in a supply of hazelnuts for the holidays. Generally seemed to have a good supply of nuts - hazelnuts seemed to be going fast though. A few of the candy bins were empty. I did not look at other bulk items. The supply of shelved items was getting thin in some areas.

mhill95149 wrote:Just called and the woman on the phone at the Barrington store said that they were not closing.....

phew, what a relief! Thanks for calling. This store is less than 10 min away from me, and super close to my sister's house.

Just called and the woman on the phone at the Barrington store said that they were not closing.....

That's very odd. I called the Barrington Fisher Nut (formerly Home Economist) earlier this week b/c the Elk Grove Village store recently closed and they were my supplier for raw Spanish peanuts for peanut brittle. The woman who answered at Barrington told me they would be closing eventually too, and that the only Fisher left would be in Elgin.

I called HQ and they are not closing the Barrington store.

done....

mhill95149 wrote:I called HQ and they are not closing the Barrington store.

done....

Thank you for your diligence!

Regards,

Went to the Skokie store this morning, (Sunday, Dec 6, 2009).

The stock was picked over pretty well. I did manage to pick up some butter powder, Juniper Berries and Sour Salt. The nuts were pretty sparse and "sickly" looking, the bulk candy was over priced as was the bulk coating chocolate, (even with the 20% discount it was more than other outlets). The coffee was stale, (poor way to display whole beans if you don't have a big turn over).

I asked the clerk, (who I had to shag out of the back room so I could check out) if the fixtures were going to be for sale, (I could use a slicer and some metro shelving). She said it had all been "promised", (I'm not sure if that meant it was sold or being gifted to someone).

All in all, basically a wasted trip. My time would have been better spent fighting the crowds at Jerry's fruit market or at Shop & Save in Niles. My opinion, your mileage may vary.

Hi all,

I came to the site for the first time this morning following up on a friend's suggestion that I try the Home Economist store. What lousy timing I have! Is the Westmont store going out of business too?

And if it is, any other recommendations for places to buy whole grains other than Whole Foods (or whole paycheck as we like to call it in my family)?

While I'm here, let me ask one more question. I got this suggestion from my friend when I was explaining that I just ordered wholemeal from King Arthur's website. This is a very hearty whole grain that is used in Ireland to make their brown bread, which many families make every day. I have been looking for it since I visited Ireland in 1971 and fell in love with the bread. Anyone know any local source for this, even the King Arthur brand so I don't have to pay shipping?

Thanks for any replies.
Jan

King Arthur often runs deals with free shipping if you buy a certain amount. Usually the $ required is pretty high. They just recently ended one that was free with $50 or more, which was the lowest I've seen.

The initial investment can be steep but the purchase of a Country Living grain mill
http://countrylivinggrainmills.com/
and raw wheat berries
http://www.bulkwholefoods.com/grains_ri ... 2_263.html (or make friends with a Mormon who can get reasonable whole wheat berries through the Bishop's pantry),
allows you you "roll yer own" whole wheat flour, (any whole grain can be used to make flour so you can experiment with oat flour, rice flour, rye flour even forage certain weeds like

amaranth
and make some esoteric breads).

Hi,

Their Barrington store renamed as Fisher Nut Store apparently closed in August or September.

Regards,