Thanksgiving essentials are out of stock

If you're noticing empty shelves when shopping for Thanksgiving, you're not alone.

In the week ending November 7, retailers were running lower on stock of essential Thanksgiving items compared to the same time last year, according to IRI, a market research firm that tracks US retail sales.

During that first week of November, whole bird frozen, fixed-weight turkeys were in stock at a rate of 64% on average across national retailers, IRI found. This time last year, that figure was around 86%. Availability of packaged pie was roughly 68% that week, compared to 78% in 2020. Liquid gravy, with an in-stock rate of 73%, is down about 12 percentage points compared to last year. Cranberry sauce, with 79% availability, is down from 89% in that same period.