OHIO — As shoppers prepare for Thanksgiving dinner, some say they are cutting back, shopping only for the bare necessities and even finding ways to save.
“You just have to go from spot to spot. I’ve been looking at the coupons and everything, seeing what stores have the good deals and everything,” said Darrel Harris, a customer at Prime Meats and Deli in Cleveland.
Customers tell News 5 this helps them make ends meet for their families as rising costs continue impacting people's lives, like Melissa Conti.
“For a while there, I was able to kind of feel a little, take a breath, and now with the way inflation is, not so much, living paycheck to paycheck, it’s a struggle,” said Melissa Conti, a customer at Mentor Family Foods.
These high prices are also a big reason why shoppers like Crystal Rhodes say it’s important to support local stores like Mentor Family Foods.
“Just like everybody else, they are struggling, so you have to support them,” said Rhodes.
“It’s a unique Thanksgiving. All Thanksgivings are unique, this one it’s a little bit more,” said PJ Conway, co-owner at Mentor Family Foods.
While Conway says customer volume has been up, the items they’re placing inside their carts are what appear to be down.
“It’s Thanksgiving,” said Conway. “You’re going to be thankful for what it is you have, not what you don’t have.”
At Prime Meats and Deli on Superior Avenue in Cleveland, Store Manager Dana Najjar says they too are experiencing normal foot traffic.
But customers are finding every way to stretch their money, even if it means sacrifice.
“They’re still buying a lot of food but less expensive items, so maybe last year we sold double the amount of prime ribs and this year they’re not buying as much expensive beef,” said Najjar.
Still, she says customers are feeding their families, which is something they’re all grateful for this Thanksgiving.
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