If you have a child in diapers or training pants, and you’re anywhere near Algonquin over the next couple of weeks, you may want to take advantage of this super diaper deal at Fiat Mart (2208 Glacier Court in Algonquin – it’s in a strip mall at the corner of Algonquin and Lake-Cook roads. Mandile’s Italian restaurant and Cardinal Fitness are in the same plaza.)
Fiat Mart is a non-profit missionary store whose proceeds feed the hungry in Chicagoland and Rockford. They sell a variety of donated goods from local stores. Right now, they have a large supply of Up & Up pull-up training pants, which were donated from Target. The 26-count 2T-3T jumbo packs are $2, and the 56-count big packs are $5! The smaller packs are actually a better deal, as they work out to about .07 per pull-up trainer, versus .08 in the larger pack. Still a steal over regular diaper prices!
I headed over to Fiat Mart after reading about this pull-ups deal on both The Shopper’s Apprentice and Mashup Mom (two other fine Chicagoland deal blogs, you know…) While my diaper-buying days are done, I do have a beautiful little niece who will wear this size at some point, so I picked up eighteen jumbo packs for her today.
I’d never been to Fiat Mart before, so I was pleasantly surprised at all of the bakery deals! They receive food donations from many area stores, including Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Costco, Dominick’s, Jewel and Target. I saw lots of familiar products on the shelves, though the sell-by dates are shortdated (remember, everything is donated by other stores, so many things are close to outdating.) The front of the store’s bakery area had some awesome deals on baked goods though. All of the loaves of bread and buns were just .50 each!
We love Healthy Life brand bread, which is hard to get deals on. It’s low-carb and has no high-fructose corn syrup. I couldn’t resist picking up several loaves (I’ll freeze it for French toast!) Ditto the Cinnabon bread… it looked good! I also got two packages of Healthy Life brown and serve rolls, all .50 each. All outdating within the next three days too, so those are also freezer-bound.
Another rack in the bakery area had everything marked at $1. It had everything from Trader Joe’s banana muffins to Kirkland cookie trays from Costco, to organics from Whole Foods. I picked up a package of organic Whole Foods English muffins for $1.
While I was shopping, I noticed the locals sure seem to know about this place :) There were people waiting in the aisles for some bakery racks to be wheeled out. They had artisan breads and a bunch of Dominick’s coffee cakes and angel food cakes on it, which people snapped up immediately!
The owner of Fiat Mart, Roger Klein, said that the diapers have been one of the most popular deals lately though too. “We’ve had people in here who said they drove up from 20, 30 miles away to load carts up with these,” he said. (I believe it!) I took the photo above after I bought my packs, so you can get an idea of how many packs are left in the store as of today.
Fiat Mart has limited hours – it’s only open Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 10:00am-2:00pm. The store is CASH-ONLY, so make sure you have enough money on hand before you go deal-hunting.
And, at the end of July, Fiat Mart is also closing to move to a new location. So, if you want to do this pull-up deal, you’ve got a couple more weeks to pick them up on the cheap!
(The back of my truck… loaded with absorbancy!)
nmfoster says
I’m going over there today with my mom and grandma. Just remember everyone, don’t be a shelf clearer!
hwendt12 says
where they are moving TOO?? I live way north, so I’m not sure I’ll get a chance to get there before they move. :(
IowaGal5 says
Just don’t forget that Fiat is only open limited hours: Thurs — Sat 10am-2pm
Coupon Maven says
Here’s an update from reader Megan, who sent over a photo of the back seat of the car…
She says “Thanks, Jill!”
(You’re welcome! Got to stock up when you can! :)
theresa1740 says
They are really not reducing their prices yet from what I saw compared to before their announcement to move. Bread has been 2 for $1 all along. Just a word of caution that all items are expired so read the expiration dates, since some items on the shelves are old, but still may be fine. They are still getting things in and get bargains to be found every week.
dolrskolr says
https://www.firstelectricnewspaper.com/2012/03/algonquin-charity-faces-local-state.html
It sounds like not paying bills or keeping up with administrative tasks in order to do charitable acts is what’s happening. Article is dated from March so maybe some things have been settled but he still wants to move?
In part, from the link (then keep reading as to FIAT’s reasons for lapses —
“FIAT Mart opened in late August in the largely empty Glacier Plaza strip mall near Algonquin and Lake Cook Roads with the Village deferring payment of half an initial $3,400 water hookup fee for six months. Now the other half is due and Klein says if he has to pay it he may have to move the store whose retail sales, he says, support FIAT Missionaries’ food donations to pantries and soup kitchens in Chicago and northern Illinois.
The move to Algonquin came when landlord Don Wolfe told Klein to get his stock out of Wolfe’s warehouse in Huntley. “I never checked him out,” said Wolfe. “We just gave him 2,500 square feet for the food,” he said. “Next thing I know, he’s got another 2,500 square feet loaded with everything but food,” said Wolfe. “I had a gut feeling something wasn’t right.””