Cost of Thanksgiving dinner is causing some to feel the pinch this year

WENDELL, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) —With inflation up nearly 8% from last year according to the Consumer Price Index, the cost of a Thanksgiving dinner is going to put a pinch on some consumers wallets

On Wednesday morning at Simerly’s in Wendell, shoppers were collecting their items for Thanksgiving, and some are still shocked by the prices.

“Everything is so expensive,” said shopper Staci Young. “Double. Some more things.”

Owner Paula Simerly said in the past turkeys cost her roughly 99 cents a pound. This year they cost her $1.74 pound, and she is selling them for $1.79 a pound. However she said some bigger retailers are still able to sell turkeys for 99 cents a pound.

“You really see the big difference between the small independents, and the big box stores. These people (retailers) go out there and tell the Norbest and tell Butterball this is all we are going to pay for a turkey,” said Simerly. “We (small independents) are left buying the turkeys for the high price.”

However, one advantage she has over the bigger retailers is she is able to stay better in stock on Thanksgiving items.

“We have stuff in stock, and you don’t come in here and see empty shelves every single day,” said Simerly. “Trying to replenish those bigger stores, there is such traffic and such high demand, it’s constantly hit and miss, hit and miss.”

This Thanksgiving one thing Simerly is doing to help customers during this time of high inflation is give them a free Norbest turkey with a store purchase of at least $150.

“I told our guy to sell them for $1.79 a pound, and if you (customer) made a $150 purchase to give them away, because if not we were never going to get rid of them,” Simerly said.

Some customers said a $100 or even a $150 doesn’t get you as far this Thanksgiving as in the past. Some might even have to cut back on what they buy this year. However, for some eating out is not an option

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