Most local retail businesses gear up for a rush of customers on Black Friday, but the days before Thanksgiving are the busiest for a family-owned poultry shop in north suburban Glenview.
Kyle Zimmerman, co-president of Harrison’s Poultry, begins preparing on the day after Thanksgiving the year before by reviewing what worked and what didn’t.
He and his younger brother Kevin are the fourth generation owners of the business on Waukegan Road that began in 1893.
In August, Zimmerman says they place orders with the Minnesota family farms that supply them with fresh turkeys.
They make adjustments based on reservations, which Harrison’s started accepting in September this year.
“People get nervous because we sell out fairly often so they start placing their orders earlier and earlier. And we’re happy to accommodate that,” Zimmerman told WBBM in the offices behind the shop.
Employees set up a tent to check in customers next to their small parking lot and Glenview police helped with traffic control on the busy street.
A customer named Louis says he was in a bind when the turkey he ordered showed up at his house in Tampa, Florida instead of in Wheaton, where he’s celebrating the holiday.
So he searched for recommendations and ended up with a nearly 13lb bird.
It was slightly smaller than he was hoping for but still very good for someone without a reservation the day before Thanksgiving.
Zimmerman estimates by the time everyone is done eating, they will have sold 5,000 turkeys in their retail shop this holiday and another 10,000 to their commercial customers.