Review: Nature’s Pantry

I went traveling this past week to visit family (it’s wedding season) and happily stumbled across a gluten-free store in Jonesboro, Arkansas, of all places! I have to admit I was slightly miffed that Jonesboro was ahead of Los Angeles by having a store completely devoted to food allergies, but I was also excited.

My mother, who also now does a gluten-free diet, accompanied me to visit Nature’s Pantry to see what goodies we could find. I have to admit we weren’t disappointed! The store was stocked full of gluten-free wonders and in many brands that I have never heard of. My mom grabbed several different boxes of crackers, the one thing that she constantly craves on her new GF diet. The shelves were mostly stocked with different baking mixes, cereal, crackers and cookies.

The store owner, Corrie Stricklin, is a doll and welcomed us in right away. As we browsed the shelves, she told us about the history of her newly opened store. Her daughter was diagnosed with Celiacs which prompted her to test herself. She decided to open the store after she found it hard to find tasty products for her family. She eats every product before she puts it on the shelf to make sure that it meets her standards. The store is starting out small, but it looks like business is booming!

I was shocked to hear her tell of a fellow store owner who came in before the store opened to look at the place. This woman told Corrie “Well, I just wanted to stop by and see the store before it closes!” Corrie was crushed, I mean, who could blame her? What a horrible thing to say! Well, Corrie proved them wrong when she had a line of people waiting outside the door on opening day. Business has been steady ever since. Proof that there is a market for gluten-free foods out there after all!

So, if you ever happen to be in the neighborhood, I highly recommend that you stop by Corrie’s store and take a look for yourself!

Nature’s Pantry
510 Southwest Drive
Jonesboro, Arkansas 72401
870-268-1080