Grocery Stores’ Busiest Day in HV Isn’t Day Before Thanksgiving

With Thanksgiving on the way, Hudson Valley shoppers will be flocking to grocery stores. But the busiest shopping day next week may surprise you.

This year, many people have been avoiding crowded supermarkets, opting instead to shop early hours or late at night when it's easier to social distance. This coming week it will be almost impossible to avoid crowds as Hudson Valley residents prepare for their Thanksgiving meals.

Because of restrictions in New York State, residents are being asked to scale down their celebrations and share Thanksgiving dinner with just the immediate members of their household. While this means that meals and turkeys will most likely be smaller, more people will be preparing meals themselves, causing supermarkets to become more crowded than usual in the days leading up to the holiday.

You may be planning on when to get that shopping done to avoided getting stuck in the pre-thanksgiving mob at the checkout counter. Most people assume that the Wednesday before Thanksgiving is the worst day to go grocery shopping. While it's true that the day before the holiday will be crowded, it turns out that it's actually not the busiest day to shop on Thanksgiving week.

Reader's Digest reports that experts agree Tuesday is actually the busiest shopping day of the year. Because so many people fear that stores will be crowded on Wednesday, most opt to head out on Tuesday thinking that it will be less crowded. Unfortunately, this has actually made Tuesday the worst day to shop.

Experts advise consumers to get all of their shopping done by Monday in order to avoid the biggest crowds. But as we have learned, all of the rules have changed for 2020. It's likely that this weekend will actually see a record number of shoppers planning ahead for the holiday, so you may want to be flexible with your shopping plans.

If you arrive at a store and the parking lot is packed, consider coming back later in the evening or early in the morning the next day. Those who really want to avoid the stores next week can also opt for one of the home delivery or pick-up services that are now being offered at stores throughout the Hudson Valley.