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East Hartford Pie Shop Embraces Busy Thanksgiving Season

In the three days leading up to Thanksgiving Granny’s Pie Factory sells about 5,000 pies.

Thanksgiving is the busiest time of year for family-owned Granny’s Pie Factory in East Hartford.

In the three days leading up to Thanksgiving, they sell about 5,000 pies. People come from all over the state and out-of-state to get their hands on one of them for the holidays, and wait on long lines.

“I don’t mind waiting in the line at all,” said Fernando Vidal from East Hartford.

“I left work around lunchtime just to get here and get my pies,” Chris Figat from Newington said. “I’ve got a big order.”

From pumpkin pie to lemon meringue, for decades, Granny’s Pie Factory pies have been an annual tradition for many Connecticut families.

“I’ve had all of them and they’re all good,” Figat told NBC Connecticut.

“My husband loves the Boston Cream, said Karen Burns from East Hartford. “He’ll eat the whole pie.”

Customers say the pies are worth standing in line for, every year.

“They’re delicious. I like the crust, the filling-- its really just quality, quality food” said Vidal.

The business has to hire nearly four times their regular staff to keep up with the Thanksgiving demand.

“The classics are always the most popular,” explained Niko Harovas, who owns the business with his parents.

For Niko, running the pie shop is second nature. His dad opened it 30 years ago.

“When I was a kid, my dad was bringing these pies to our thanksgiving. So, I wasn’t working then, but I was eating them,” Harovas said.

Granny’s Pie Factory is open on Thanksgiving Day, too, for anyone who can’t make it in ahead of time.

“We are open on thanksgiving because people want to get pies,” Harovas told NBC Connecticut. “Pie is my life.”

The shop goes through about 3,600 pounds of apples and 2,400 pounds of pumpkins the week of Thanksgiving alone to make their pies.

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