Our journey down the gluten-free path began almost seventeen years ago when we discovered that our youngest son, John had Celiac Disease. The doctor told us that the only thing we’d have to do would be to put John on a gluten-free diet. Well, that seemed easy enough, right! NOT! No wheat, no rye, no barley and no oats. What!! That meant no pizza, no bagels, no spaghetti and no soft pretzels (his favorite). We had to remove all his favorite foods, overnight and immediately go cold turkey. Here today, gone tomorrow. Besides having Celiac Disease, John has Down Syndrome (10% of people with Down Syndrome have Celiac) and it was a little more challenging trying to explain the change in diet to him.
So, all I have to do is go to the supermarket and buy gluten-free food, right! NOT! I spent many, long frustrating hours searching the shelves. I’d read hundreds of labels. I asked dozens of questions. I grabbed anyone with a name tag that would listen to my tale of woe. Then after food shopping for days on end, I’d return home with a single bag of groceries, tired and defeated. To make matters even worse, John hated the food and refused to eat most of it. Even the birds wouldn’t eat the bread. He survived for the first year on fruit, veggies and meat. He actually reached a point where he gave up trying.
I discovered that some health and natural food stores carried gluten-free products. You could get a list of products at the service desk or online but once you arrived at the store it was like a scavenger hunt. One day, I contacted the store manager and politely asked him if it was possible for them to collect all the gluten-free products and put them in one section. He looked at me like I had rocks in my head, “Oh no, he said, “That would be impossible”. Well, it was at that moment that the idea of a gluten-free store was born. Necessity is the mother of invention and I knew that the best way to predict the future was to invent it. My husband Pat and I along with our sons, Bryan and John have created a Gluten-Free heaven. Our store is a one-stop shopping experience for the gluten-free shopper. Also, it wasn’t very long before we came to realize that many of our customers were looking for products that were also free of many of the other eight major allergens. There was a tremendous need for not only gluten-free but wheat-free, dairy-free, soy-free, corn-free, egg-free, shellfish-free, peanut and tree nut-free. Then there were the customers that needed low-protein, high protein, low-salt, no-salt, low-carb, no-carb, and sugar-free. So our mission in life is to provide our customers with not only the food they need, but all the food they love and crave.
We carry all the national and international allergen free food companies like Enjoy Life, Glutano, Glutino, Kinninnicks, Amy’s Natural, Foods by George, Gluten-Free Pantry, Namaste, Really Great Foods and Orgran. We also carry dozens of exclusive and amazing smaller companies that deliver to us locally and from as far away as California. We have our own in house bakery, Anello’s and you can pick up delicious fresh baked goodies and place your special orders everyday.
We consider everyone a guest in our store and we pride ourselves on customer service. We have a well trained staff that can guide you through the store and help you make your selections. We offer dozens of samples everyday and make every effort to carry all the products you need. We are online at the store so we can help you find the answers to all your questions before you ever make a purchase. Food is our medicine and our medicine is our food. Many conditions can be relieved effectively with a nutritional approach. Come on in and visit our store to begin your journey to better health and great food.