store is the only outlet grocery store in Southwest Ohio. It sits at the corner of a small strip on North Main Street in New Carlisle. The spot was once a Family Dollar store.
Justin Eichnlaub and his wife are regulars, they come to the Clark County store often for a bargain. Justin said he enjoys cooking all types of food, and it鈥檚 easy finding international foods at the store since the closest international market is over a 30 minute drive away.
When he first came to Mr. Mac鈥檚, he had never seen anything like it.
鈥淚 was just like, wait, what? Hold on. Cause I think at the time, they had the Epic beef jerky bags and stuff like that. And I'm like, this is like $7 a bag elsewhere and it鈥檚 $1.80 here. Like鈥hat?!鈥� he said.
Jessica Coulter drove in from Troy. During summer break, she buys more snacks or frozen foods for her kids. She likes what the store has.
鈥淭hey tell you very much upfront that it could be almost expired or past the expiration date, but they freeze a lot of it,'' Coulter said. 鈥淭hat kind of stuff doesn't bother me.鈥�
This isn't like a regular grocery store. Walking in to Mr. Mac鈥檚 there鈥檚 a cart rack of reclaimed Toys 鈥漅鈥� Us shopping carts. One shelf is full of varied candies where customers can fill a Ziploc bag for just $3.
And then, there鈥檚 aisles of staple and specialty foods. A close look at the price tags will reveal most foods cost less than in conventional stores.
Organic bacon sells for $3.50 for a pound, $2.25 for a box of organic Mac鈥橬 Cheese and just a $1.75 for Oscar Meyer deli meat.
鈥淧eople here like a bargain,鈥� said Laura McDonald. She co-owns Mr. Mac鈥檚 with her husband, John. Although a lot of people call him Mr. Mac, the name stuck from when he was an elementary school teacher.
The couple opened the store in 2019. The McDonalds work with distributors to order food that didn鈥檛 sell because it鈥檚 out of season, it鈥檚 almost out of date or other conventional grocery stores just didn鈥檛 want to buy it.
They can purchase that food in bulk which then allows the couple to resell it at ultra-low prices. This type of model accomplishes two things: It prevents food from going to waste and it makes brand-name foods available to shoppers who might otherwise not be able to afford it.
About are spread throughout the state, including in Bellefontaine and Loudonville, while others are clustered in northeast Ohio.
A quick look at the back storage room reveals several dozen pallets of food that came in earlier in the week. There鈥檚 cereal with a 鈥渂est-by鈥� date from May, sugar from October 2021 and chips from July 2022.
That food could鈥檝e ended up being part of the nearly 40% of food that is wasted in our national food supply chain.
There鈥檚 many reasons why food goes to waste before it reaches consumers. Some of the reasons include spoilage during transit, logistics problems or lack of labor at farms or other supply chains, according to a .
Some of it languishes in a warehouse and never gets sold to a grocery store. Sometimes it鈥檚 donated to food banks. A lot of it is still thrown away. But some of it makes it to an outlet grocery store like Mr. Mac鈥檚.
鈥淪o we're trying to do our small part to reduce that and find the food in there that is really good quality. There's nothing wrong with it,鈥� Laura said. 鈥淎nd the bonus is that we can also give to the customers at a far lower price, which lets them have more flexibility in their budget and eat more the way they want to eat.鈥�
Recently, Mr. Mac鈥檚 has seen a jump in business due to inflation. Sales at Mr.Mac鈥檚 has doubled since last year, according to Laura.
Grocery prices have gone up 12% over the past year, according to a .
Right now, many are people spending more out of their paycheck on food, although these stores aren鈥檛 as popular in Ohio. Some people might not even be aware they exist.
Haley Oliver, a food science professor at Purdue University, said part of it is understanding the difference between food safety and food quality.
Best-buy, sell-by or use-by date labels on food aren鈥檛 regulated by the federal government, with the exception of infant formula, and don鈥檛 affect food safety.
鈥淎nd yet, there's really, really compelling evidence that consumers make a lot of decisions based around those dates.鈥� Oliver said.
The most foods are generally safe to eat and still wholesome if it鈥檚 handled properly until the time spoilage is evident. The date labels might just mean the quality of the food might begin to change after the date on the labels.
Signs like an off smell, texture or color might indicate that food has started going bad and is no longer safe to eat, according to the Administration.
There鈥檚 also the costs that come with opening and operating a grocery store such as high electric bills and labor costs. Smaller grocery stores also don鈥檛 have the same advertising power big chain grocery stores do either, according to the Ohio Grocers Association.
Outlet discount stores aren鈥檛 a new model though. One chain, based in Tennessee, has been around since the 1970鈥檚.
Oliver said this type of grocery helps improve access to more affordable foods for low-income households.
鈥淚t takes energy to find the products, to coordinate groceries that still are known to be safe,鈥� Oliver said. 鈥淎nd yet it is fundamentally key to resolving food security challenges in this country.鈥�
Low income families on food. With rising food costs, it鈥檚 getting more difficult to meet their basic needs.
Oliver said inflation might push more people to recognize the service these stores provide.
鈥淎s we see percentages of incomes shift to having a higher percentage go towards food I think it will elevate this issue.鈥� she said.
Laura McDonald said it took a lot of work to help people understand Mr.Mac鈥檚 food is as good as any other store鈥檚.
鈥淣ow we like to think we have enough of a presence in the community that we rarely have to give that talk to anybody.鈥� Laura said.
And she鈥檚 learned there鈥檚 no expiration date on her customer鈥檚 gratitude for every penny they save.
Alejandro Figueroa is a corps member with , a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Support for WYSO's reporting on food and food insecurity in the Miami Valley comes from the .
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