Shoppers flood stores ahead of Thanksgiving

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- The time for Thanksgiving dinner is not far away and the mad rush is on to pick up turkeys and last-minute items. And, the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah also begins Wednesday night.

Just as it's hard to find a parking spot at the mall on Black Friday, it was hard to find parking at grocery stores Wednesday, as time was running out.

The line started forming at 6 a.m. at the HoneyBaked Ham store on Winchester Blvd. in San Jose. "It's crazy. I didn't think it was going to be like this," said customer Joanna Sotelo, adding that she had been waiting for an hour.

And the reward was leaving with a ham or turkey to keep hungry families happy. "This honey-crusted turkey is excellent. My kids love it and we can have it for the weekend after," said Morgan Hill resident Lisa Washington.

As popular as ham is, it's estimated that Americans will be consuming 48 million turkeys for Thanksgiving. At Lunardi's Market on Bascom Avenue, they're selling briskly. "Yesterday, we sold around 600 turkeys. Today, we'll sell another 600," said store manager Mario Alvarado.

Dan Henning was buying a turkey -- but not for himself. 'I'm buying one for the homeless shelter and I'm going to my brother-in-law's house for Thanksgiving," he said, admitting he was thankful not to be the one cooking this year. "It's a zoo out there," he said.

The first day of Hanukkah falls on Thanksgiving this year, so the Pars Kosher Market in San Jose was selling lots of sufganiyot, or jelly doughnuts, a traditional holiday treat. And, there are even kosher turkeys.

"I bought my kosher turkey already and you have to have that, and stuffing, using dairy substitutes to try to keep it kosher," Karen Enfield said.

The combination of Hanukkah and Thanksgiving is being dubbed "Thanksgivukkah."

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san jose, food, hanukkah, holiday, shopping, thanksgiving, south bay news, david louie

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