BOZEMAN — Thanksgiving is one of the busiest times for grocery stores, but ironically there are so many shortages going on nationwide.
“I see the articles. I see them pop up on my news feeds. I wish they wouldn’t because I worry it erodes customer confidence and that it makes them make decisions based on something they’re reading that maybe isn’t there, at least not to the level that sometimes it’s brought up,” said Travis Frandsen, president of Town & Country Foods.
If you’ve spent any time online, then you know exactly what he’s talking about. New shortages seem to constantly appear nationwide. But how is the local grocery store doing?
“There’s certainly some shortages, but I would say they’re more inconveniences than truly shortages. If you have a favorite flavor of something, you might not get it all the time,” Frandsen said.
MTN News spoke with one customer who was having a hard time finding unsalted peanuts. So the shortages might make you go without peanut brittle, but all the main dishes seem to be covered.
“Don’t panic. I think there’s going to be plenty of products, especially with the perishables," Frandsen said. "I saw a story the other day where there was a 60 percent shortage of turkeys. I don’t know, we have so many turkeys we don’t know what to do with them.”
But there is something affecting the local economy just as much as nationwide.
“Pricing inflation, which is certainly in the news. That is probably something we’re dealing with just like everybody else,” said Frandsen.
But as Frandsen said, there’s no need to panic. We’re still days away from the big day. But it couldn’t hurt to start your shopping if you haven’t already.
