Bulk Barn

Oh man first time walking in here they had almost everything you could imagine in bulk. Made the mistake of bringing my boy, he piled up on candy! And everything is just priced right. You can buy as much or as little as you need. Thumbs up to whoever created bulk barn

I went in today to grab some things that I didn’t need bags of and I have to say the ladies there are amazing. I would highly suggest this place. Very clean and helpful and LOTS of things to look at and buy.

Bulk Barn arrived in Edmonton about the same time my husband and I did. Being new in town, and often having no idea where to purchase certain things (like weird flours), we quickly learned BB was our friend. Three years later, we’ve discovered BB doesn’t have the cheapest prices on some things – but you do have control over how much you buy. I especially like to purchase just enough of certain ingredients for my baking experiments.
They always have an excellent stock of the aforementioned flours, spices, candies, and nuts, and a drool-​worthy selection of basic baking accoutrements (as in, every icing tip size and shape known to humankind, and almost as many cookie cutters). I particularly enjoy dropping by on Wednesdays to avail myself of the 10% discount for students (and seniors). Only once have I had the misfortune to purchase something not 100% fresh (some fried noodles for a bake sale item I had planned to make), but in all my visits, I’d say that’s a pretty good record. I always see an employee cleaning the bins and putting out new scoops, and I’ve never questioned the quality or safety of my planned purchases (which is more than I can say for other places that offer bulk food items).

I was initially happy that there was another Bulk Barn closer to my house.
I visit the southern one the most because it was the one I first discovered, and they play middle of the road music I don’t mind listening to while i shop. I visited the one off Whyte once and HATED the music (see my review). I usually have lots to buy at Bulk Barn, since this is where I buy basics like flour and sugar, nuts and dried fruit. That means I have to stay for a decent amount of time, bagging and labeling everything. I get a freaking HEADACHE now when I go.
I wish store owners would realize that not everyone listens to this godawful crap masquerading as modern music, where everything includes autotune. I will patronize anywhere that DOESN’T play it.
Unfortunately, they do play it here. I asked if it was the regular station they play when I went to check out, and was told «yes.» I even made a point of telling them I wouldn’t return for just that reason.
The only thing this particular Bulk Barn has that I have not found anywhere else in Edmonton so far (please PM me if you HAVE found them somewhere else…) is lowfat graham cracker pie crusts, which I need for quite a few recipes.
I suppose I’ll have to come back here if I want them, but it will be a commando visit. In, out, with crusts in hand, and nothing else.

Why have I never seen one of these stores before??? I had no idea this little gem existed, and now I’ll be stopping in often to pick up baking ingredients. The selection for baking, or chocolate making, let alone snacks and various other items is vast! So many types of flour, even bulk self serve honey. I noticed you can either buy or rent the various shaped cake pans that decorate the wall, if you’re in need of something special. Draw back as mentioned before, is something to write the codes on, to help speed up the check out process. I noticed some sections have the bag clips with paper on them and pencils, so next time I shop here I’ll grab a handful to use for the items I’m buying, rather than hunting them down.

I came to this Bulk Barn mid afternoon and it wasn’t very busy. I came with items I had in mind and wasn’t tempted beyond them even though it’s easy to be. The prices here can be a little more but you can find just about any item you need for baking or snacking. It’s a great place to go before you go on a road trip to stock up for the kids’ and adults’ treats! They have a coupon that you can save $ 3 when you spend more than $ 10 which is easy to do. Also, kudos to the cashiers who usually know the codes by memory!

I’ve been to Bulk Barn twice and have been pretty impressed with the selection of different things they have there. It’s the only place in the city I’ve seen cane sugar, which is a must for making mojitos!
I don’t bake very often, but sometimes get the urge to whip something up. So when I do bake I usually go out and buy all the ingredients from Safeway or wherever and only ever use half of what I need and the rest goes to waste as I don’t bake again for another year. That’s where Bulk Barn is awesome. Buy as much as you need and not a gram more!
The only thing I find very annoying is neither of the stores I went into had any pens to write the number of your item down, like you would find in the bulk section of a supermarket. Knowing I have a terrible memory, I wrote the item numbers on my phone, to make it easier when I went to pay. However, nobody in front of me in line ever thought of that, so there is always an annoying process of trying to figure out what people’s items are, because they haven’t recorded the number. That needs to be fixed.