If you were at the grocery store Tuesday, you know it was a crazy place. This is historically one of the busiest grocery shopping weeks of the year.
Zipping through the aisles at Newington’s Stew Leonard’s, shoppers were busy. Rush hour lasted all day as people hustled about.
“Oh, my goodness, I am really brave today. Usually, I don’t come out right before Thanksgiving,” Elaine Woody, of New Britain said.
Store director Curt Potter said business this week is triple what it is almost every other week of the year for the Stew Leonard’s chain.
Get Connecticut local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Connecticut newsletters.
“We are doing 55,000 pounds of turkey, we’re doing 10,000 pounds of mashed potatoes,” Potter said.
Shoppers were gobbling those items up. Vanessa Witherspoon is visiting family in Connecticut and was among those braving the crowds.
“It’s pretty busy, but I think tomorrow’s going to be slammed. So, we wanted to come a day earlier and try to get in and out really quickly,” Witherspoon said.
Local
Turkey and all the fixins were flying off the shelves on Tuesday. Some people were looking for traditional favorites while others were leaning a little more gourmet.
“I love the lamb and my family loves lamb, so I like to do the nontraditional a little bit,” Toby Bolden Hudson, of South Windsor, said.
Despite it being a little chaotic Tuesday, it did seem that people were generally happy, knowing that the holiday season is starting to kick in.
For this week to flow smoothly and keep people happy, a lot of work needs to be done to keep up with the demand.
“This week is pandemonium, but it’s organized chaos,” said Chaz Fable, executive chef at Stew Leonard’s Newington store.
The Thanksgiving rush is peaking and for those working, it is hectic. Turkeys are being roasted and all the sides being prepared.
“We’ve literally made enough gravy and cranberry sauce to fill a few swimming pools,” Fable said.
Potter said the Stew Leonard’s chain will sell thousands of pounds of turkey. Preparing for that takes quite a bit of planning.
“We start putting our turkey orders in around August to make sure they are growing the turkeys and getting them ready,” Potter said.
The ‘fixins’ and as important as the turkey and much of that comes from the bakery. In addition to hundreds of pounds of bread baked each day, there are the pies. Hundred are being sold at Stew Leonard's and keeping them stocked is a challenge.
“It’s a big job,” Mel Makowski said. “You’re going up [to the display shelf] constantly with just carts and carts of pies.”
The hours are long, but these workers know the work is important to ensure a festive holiday and the customers we spoke with appreciate the efforts.
“They do it in stride,” Woody said. “They are not angry. They are happy group.”
