Bulletin E-Edition:
more photosNewport Avenue Market meat cutter Tom Niedzwiecki loads a Thanksgiving turkey into the cart for Bend resident Robin Coats in the Bend store's deli Tuesday afternoon. Today is going to be a busy day at local grocery stores as people stock up for Thursday's feasts. Many stores, like Newport Market, also will be open Thursday for shoppers, but mostly on limited hours.
Andy Tullis The Bulletin
A last-minute dash
By David Holley / The Bulletin
Last modified: November 25. 2009 12:03PM PSTOh no.
The yams are baked and on the table. The pumpkin pie is cooling on the counter. The turkey is almost perfect.
And you forgot to buy cranberry sauce.
Don't fret. There are plenty of local stores open on Thanksgiving, just in case you forgot a meal-time necessity.
Make sure you figure out what you're missing early enough, though. Most grocery stores are closing by midafternoon to let employees spend time with family.
During the hours the stores are open, expect them to be relatively busy. Not only do plenty of people make the mad, last-minute rush to their local grocer on Thanksgiving Day for an item they forgot or need more of, but some also wait until the last minute to purchase their entire feast.
Dan Walston, store manager of the Madras Erickson's Thriftway, said some people wait until Thursday to pick up full meals that Erickson's has prepared as well as components of the meal that customers are cooking at home.
“We're selling everything, including the frozen turkey, on Thanksgiving Day,” he said.
Turkey Day may be busy for stores, but it'll be the day before — today — that is frequently the busiest.
“It's like 6 o'clock on a Friday night,” Jodi Fritz, customer satisfaction manager at the Bend Albertsons on Northeast Third Street, said about the day before Thanksgiving. “That one is so busy. It's double the amount of what we normally do.”
Other grocers said the day before Thanksgiving is typically one of the top five sales days of the year. Most managers make sure to stock up weeks beforehand for the mass purchasing of food.
“It's just making sure we have all of the holiday items,” said Spike Bement, store manager at Newport Avenue Market. “Make sure you're ready for it.”
Whether there would be enough of at least one holiday item this year, canned pumpkin and pie filling, has been uncertain since news broke earlier this fall that heavy rains had destroyed entire pumpkin crops. Nestlé Baking, which produces the canned product Libby's Pumpkin, announced Nov. 17 that it expected a shortage of the product on store shelves because of the rain.
Most area grocery store managers said they ordered early and have plenty of pumpkin on their shelves.
Doug Schmidt, store manager of the Bend Erickson's Thriftway, said the store is short on a few types of canned pumpkin, such as spiced, but it has other varieties in stock.
“We've still got plenty,” he said.
Bement of Newport Market said he ordered pumpkin early, before news of a shortage hit.
“We try to stay pretty proactive about that kind of stuff,” he said.
Store owners and managers who will spend Thanksgiving Day working say shoppers are always friendly.
Charlie Bunker, owner of the Sisters Market, said he gave his employees the day off, adding that he and his wife will keep the store open for travelers on the road or people who forgot to buy a part of their meal.
“We just want to be here for them,” he said.
David Holley can be reached at 541-383-0323 or at dholley@bendbulletin.com.
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