Junk food from Ollie's

Junk Food from Ollie's

Ollie's Bargain Outlet is a chain of discount stores that started in central Pennsylvania in the 1980s, and now has stores in 25 states. They usually lease their stores in formerly prosperous shopping centers........what may have been a thriving PetCo, or Kmart, or Joann Fabrics in 2003, is now an Ollie's. 

Some of the parking lots where Ollie's are located require concentration and care to negotiate......I recently was at the Frederick, Maryland store (second from top, above) and while inside, a severe thunderstorm swept into the area. The rain was pounding on the store roof so hard I couldn't hear the music playing on the speaker system. When I had waited out the worst of the rain by standing under the storefront, I discovered that the parking lot had flooded, and I had to wade through ankle-deep water to my car.........

I periodically visit Ollie's for sundries. The chain advertises itself as 'Good stuff - cheap !' and that's true. Ollie's buys truckloads of surplus inventory and sells it at discounted prices, exclusively in its brick-and-mortar stores (the chain has no online sales portal). According to a 2019 article in Forbes, Ollie's is thriving at a time when many brick-and-mortar stores are not doing well. 

According to Forbes, Ollies customers '.....tend to be lower-middle class or poorer.......' Whether I qualify for this designation is open to contemplation, but I do find Ollie's a source for cheap junk food. Some brands that aren't available in other stores can be found at Ollie's; for example, while Mallow Cups from Boyer were plentiful in my youth during the 70s, I haven't seen them anywhere in the past 20 (30 ?!) years, but I found big packs of them at Ollies.

Some of the items available at Ollie's represent flavors that didn't survive the brutal competition on the shelves of major grocery stores. In that regard, perhaps it's for the best that 'S'mores' flavored snack balls, 'Orange Cream Pop' snack balls, and 'Dippin' Dots' snack balls have been expunged from the retail environment.

Entering Ollie's filled with the spirit of adventure, the Fair-mindedness of the Forager, can have value. Some snacks that seem of a questionable nature can turn out to be quite delectable. 'Frosted Chocolatey Churro' Pop Tarts are an example. I did not try the 'Pretzel Cinnamon Sugar' flavor Pop Tarts.

 And let's be fair. If a bag of chips is priced at $1.89, or a box of 16 exotically flavored Pop Tarts is only $2.59, you're not spending a whole lot of money to investigate, are you ?

So, if scoring discounted holiday candy, obscure flavors and sizings of snack foods (such as 2 lb bags of Herr's 'Jalapeno Poppers Flavor Cheese Curls'), $3 Gold Toe tee shirts, disinfecting wipes, or solar lamps for lawns is your thing, then visiting Ollie's can be a good idea.