PENNSYLVANIA, USA — 2020 is winding down with Thanksgiving just over two weeks away!
Families may be celebrating turkey day a little different this year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
GIANT is helping to make sure customers have all the supplies they need to cook the most anticipated meal of the year.
The store says families are now starting to think about one of the biggest food holiday's but they've been busy preparing behind the scenes for a while now.
John McDonald, Director of Marketing and Meal Solutions at GIANT says one of the biggest things they've seen is that people are starting to prepare for the holidays earlier this year.
"Typically in previous years we get a rush of people the week of Thanksgiving, now we're seeing people get ready and make their purchases in advance," said McDonald.
If you are looking to avoid crowded grocery stores and the holiday's quickly approach McDonald encourages shoppers to come during the week and in the middle of the day. He said GIANT has been seeing their stores have a more steady flow of people as Thanksgiving approaches, but doing your shopping in the middle of the day will help avoid more crowds.
If late night shopping is an option for you, that he says is probably the least busiest time to get the items you need to stock up on.
Turkey is the staple of any Thanksgiving meal and to accommodate smaller Thanksgivings or people preparing their first ever bird, they will have more smaller birds this year to pick from -- in addition to the classic large birds!
An option for two to four people would be a turkey breast.
A 4-5 pound turkey breast or a whole turkey (12-15 pounds) which would feed a family of 8, GIANT says.
A large turkey (over 16 to 21 pounds) feeds a large family or gathering with left overs!
Making things convenient and enjoyable for customers is a priority for GIANT. McDonald says if people are concerned about heading to the stores this holiday season, they also have their online shopping tool.
Their online tool makes grocery shopping more flexible for customers!
He encourages shoppers to start building their cart early, and select your time well in advance. Your cart will save and you can always go back and add or remove items. He said they are working to have enough times for shoppers to select from if they decide to pick up their groceries in store, and they have added more drivers to help with home shopping delivery services.
McDonald he confident that GIANT will not run out of Thanksgiving supplies. He says they have been busy preparing for a change in shopping trends this year because of the pandemic for months.
New this year, you can redeem your free turkey if you have GIANT points online this year! You don't have to make the trip to the store if you don't want to.
If you decide a turkey isn't for you this Thanksgiving or you want to give back, you can donate a turkey to a family in need.