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Thanksgiving 2020 promises to be unlike any other

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Thanksgiving turkey cover --The Hot Mess Press

Thanksgiving 2020 will be one of many things that will make this year unlike any other year. Some of the major events making 2020 unforgettable include the crash of the stock market, devastating bushfires in Australia, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry saying goodbye to the royal family. Furthermore, President Donald Trump’s acquittal in an impeachment trial, Parasite taking most awards at this year’s Oscars and Harvey Weinstein’s conviction on rape and sexual abuse mark significant happenings in 2020.

Black Friday crowd
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Thanksgiving retail calendar changes

With the threat of Covid-19 infections, the familiar Black Friday rush became risky. Therefore, Walmart, Target and other big-box retailers took steps to prevent overcrowding, spreading the deals over several days. Similarly, another first in decades, retail owners of brick-and-mortar businesses chose not to open for business on Thanksgiving to protect employees’ health.

E-commerce
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Thanksgiving sales made e-commerce going parabolic

With the second lockdown at the end of October, typical peak sales for small businesses went to e-commerce retailers like Amazon. Small business owners’ outcries led to large retailers’ agreement to postpone Black Friday deals for one week. However, they would only agree to this if smaller shops were allowed to reopen and get their share of the pie. Interestingly, France also broke norms. Covid-19 restrictions also hampered small businesses across the Atlantic. The French government postponed the annual shopapalooza to make sure small shops could benefit.

Airport terminal
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Lighter traffic expected

The Transportation Security Administration screened passenger volumes over the weekend leading up to Thanksgiving. They report approximately 40% of the numbers recorded for this period in 2019. However, since the beginning of the pandemic, no other two days were as busy as this past Friday and Saturday at U.S. airports.

This happened immediately after reports of record numbers of new Covid infections and deaths. Furthermore, people seem to disregard the CDC’s warnings against traveling at this time. Interestingly, the CDC’s biggest concern is people traveling to join large gatherings. Not so much the risks of Covid-19 spreading on airplanes. Additionally, projections by AAA indicate a decline of approximately 10% from Thanksgiving 2019.

Thanksgiving Roasted turkey
Credit: UiHere

Small turkeys catch the shine this year

Those people heeding the advice of safety authorities will remember 2020 Thanksgiving for smaller gatherings. Unlike other years, large turkeys remain sitting on store shelves because smaller gatherings need smaller turkeys. A turkey farmer in North Carolina reported several requests for the smallest possible turkeys.

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