Thanksgiving preparations: How local supermarkets are preparing for the feeding frenzy
With Thanksgiving just a week away, grocery stores of all sizes are preparing for the big day.
Turkeys, potatoes and other essential holiday ingredients will be sold by the millions over the course of the next week. So how are smaller, mom and pop type shops preparing for one of the busiest shopping weeks of the year?
At Nel’s Bi-Lo in Pocatello, the turkey’s have been ordered since March, according to the owner, Barry Dutton.
“Cause they need to know how much to grow and all that,” he explained.
The store bases its order size off of sales from years past and adjusts accordingly if possible.
“The closer it gets, the harder it gets,” Dutton said. “Most everything else you can get, it’s just the turkeys. That’s the hard thing…you can’t just go get a turkey. Even getting down to the wire, there’s some sized turkeys, frozen turkeys, that I can’t get right now.”
Some 300 turkeys were ordered for Nel’s in preparation for the holiday. Some customers have even come in to place bulk orders.
“I had one customer that bought 52 turkeys from us to donate to the food bank,” Dutton said.
November is one of the year’s best periods for sales, with the week leading up to Thanksgiving capping it off.
The store is closed on the holiday, as well as the rest of the weekend, carrying on a store tradition.
“We love giving our team a four-day weekend and nobody’s complained yet,” Dutton joked.
In addition to the big meal, it is also a huge football weekend. Chips, soda and other snacks are flying off the shelves as a result.
But things don’t slow down after Thanksgiving. December is arguably the busiest month of the year for Dutton, filled with catering of Christmas and other holiday meals.
Dutton voiced his thanks to the community for helping keep his store around.
“We’re the last of the little guys here and we really like to roll out the red carpet and take care of our guests and we try and make service our key in what we do,” he said.
