Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, more stores are closing on Thanksgiving — and staying closed until the next morning for Black Friday. These stores will be closed on Thanksgiving: Best Buy, DICK’S Sporting Goods, Hobby Lobby, Kroger, Walgreens, non-24 hour CVS, Home Depot, Kohl’s, Lowe’s, Marshalls, PetCo, PetSmart, Sam’s Club, Target, Walmart, Piggly Wiggly and Aldi.
Updated on Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023 at 10:45 a.m.
Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, more stores are closing on Thanksgiving — and staying closed until the next morning for Black Friday.
These stores will be closed on Thanksgiving: Best Buy, DICK’s Sporting Goods, Hobby Lobby, Kroger, Walgreens, non-24 hour CVS, Home Depot, Kohl’s, Lowe’s, Marshalls, PetCo, Petsmart, Sam’s Club, Target, Walmart, Piglet Wiggly and Aldi.
Bridget Lambert, president of the West Virginia Retailers Association said this is part of a growing trend of stores to close on, and around the holidays since the pandemic.
“Traditionally, retailers have started closing more in the last three or four years,” Lambert said. “So yes, a lot of the larger retailers will be closed Thanksgiving Day. The grocery chains, some of them are open during the day, but will be closing early in the evening so that their employees will have time to spend with their families.”
Piggly Wiggly and Kroger will be open until 4 p.m. Twenty-four hour CVS’s will only be open until 5 p.m. Walgreens usual 24 hour pharmacy will be open with varied hours.
Lambert said this change is part of a cultural shift in attitudes about work life balance from major retailers.
“They certainly want to meet their customer demands, but also know the needs of their employees,” Lambert said.
Lambert said the trend has been on the rise, and she expects that it will continue into the future.
An estimated 710,000 drivers will pass through the West Virginia Turnpike toll booths over the six day Thanksgiving holiday period.
An estimated 710,000 drivers will pass through the West Virginia Turnpike toll booths over the six day Thanksgiving holiday period.
Like the rest of the country, Wednesday and Sunday are expected to be the busiest of the six turnpike holiday travel days.
Parkways Authority Executive Director Jeff Miller said motorists should watch for traffic flaggers at the toll booths. He suggested those drivers without an EZ Pass move to the right lanes with the $4.25 required toll at hand.
“Don’t just stay on that left side and help disperse the traffic evenly throughout all the tolling booths,” Miller said. “We always encourage everyone to participate in our EZ Pass program. Not only is it a great discount offered at $26.25 a year for unlimited travel, but it really does provide for the fastest throughput of traffic through the tolling facilities, and really benefits everyone, even on our operations side of the process.”
Miller said if you need assistance on the turnpike, dial star (*) S-P, and a courtesy patrol member or a state police cruiser will be there within minutes.
“If you happen to run out of gas, we’ll get you a little bit of gas to get you off an exit to get filled up or if you have a flat tire,” Miller said. “It’s just such a busy time of year and there’s so much traffic that we just absolutely do not want anybody to be stuck on the side of the roadway while they’re trying to get to their friends or family to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner – or upon their return.”
Miller requested that motorists who exit the turnpike toll booths, exercise patience, caution and respect for other drivers who are merging back into regular traffic.
“Be cognizant of the speed limit signs as you go through the tolling facilities and try not to cut anybody off,” he said.
Miller said there are no construction projects on the turnpike planned for this time of year.
“There’s a requirement that traffic construction must be picked up or completed right before Thanksgiving to allow for use of the roadway,” he said. “If there is anything that does occur, just know that it is on an emergency basis and something that has to be done right away.”
Miller said West Virginia drivers can stop by the Beckley EZ Pass center or our Charleston EZ Pass center and sign up for a pass on Tuesday, and it would be activated and ready for use on Wednesday.
To get an EZ Pass, or to renew an existing EZ Pass online, click HERE. In person EZ Pass applications can be made at the West Virginia Parkways Authority EZ Pass Customer Service Center, 3310 Piedmont Road in Charleston, or at the Beckley Customer Service Center located at 12 Pikeview Drive, Beckley.
This is a season when many people turn to family, friends and food. As we enter the end-of-the-year holidays, group celebrations are discouraged to reduce COVID-19 infections.
We are in uncertain times, dealing with many things that are out of our control. A contentious election and a global pandemic leave us divided and apart, while searching for comfort and familiarity.
While food traditions have changed this year, they can still bring joy. Our cuisine shares our legacy even when we aren’t physically together. On this episode of Us & Them a look at how people across the country seek to connect with others by adopting new food traditions.
This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the West Virginia Humanities Council.
Subscribe to Us & Them on Apple Podcasts, NPR One, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher and beyond. You also can listen to Us & Them on WVPB Radio — tune in on the fourth Thursday of every month at 8 p.m., with an encore presentation on the following Saturday at 3 p.m.
Several families impacted by flooding last year in West Virginia have received new homes.
WVVA-TV reports the Rainelle residents were handed keys to their homes on Monday. The homes have 8-foot (2-meter) support beams should severe weather come again.
The work was done by Appalachia Service Project, a Christian ministry focused on home repair and replacement in central parts of the region. The organization has built more than 50 homes for those who lost theirs in the 2016 flood.
Darlenia Killen says she lived more than a year in a single bedroom apartment and Federal Emergency Management Agency trailer. She walked into her new home saying, “I could not be more appreciative, I’m afraid I might cry.”
The families also received Thanksgiving baskets with turkeys.
Cooking healthy for a holiday crowd can be expensive – but it doesn’t have to be.
“So, if we think about vegetables and that kind of thing, one thing we can do for sure is instead of doing fresh vegetables up here in the produce area, we could do canned vegetables or we could do frozen vegetables,” said Marshall nutritionist Mckayla Hart. “This time of year, typically those are a lot cheaper than buying fresh.”
Credit Kara Lofton / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Oscar Aguilar makes pupusas at Cafe Cimino in Sutton
Hart stands in the produce aisle at the Walmart in Huntington.
“So here some green beans…now this is organic so that’s going to be, here are some right here – this is the WalMart brand – so this is Marketside it’s $2.48 for 12 oz…so that’s a fair price.”
Hart said there is a perception that eating healthy is expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. Eating seasonally, cooking from scratch and meal prepping are all ways to keep costs down.
She begins looking for some canned green beans.
Credit Kara Lofton / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
“Love people. Cook them tasty food” reads a sign behind Oscar Aguilar in the Cafe Cimino kitchen.
“K let’s see if we can find our green beans…so let’s see. This is 38oz for $1.64 – the other one was 12oz for $2.48 – and here’s too canned and fresh have the same vitamins and minerals so you know – a green bean is a green bean – it doesn’t matter if it’s canned or fresh.”
It’s not just about checking prices, Hart said, but also making sure you don’t get caught up in buying what you don’t need.
“The very first thing is you want to make a list. You want to make a plan for what you want for the meal and then write down all the ingredients and the dishes you want to have and then stick to the list.”
And one good way to have a list, is to make a menu.
The restaurant at Cafe Cimino is popular for providing some of the best fine dining in West Virginia. But according to chef Oscar Aguilar, eating well can be as simple as sticking with the staples.
Credit Kara Lofton / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Owner Tim Urbanic fixes an omelet at Cafe Cimino in Sutton
“For example, you can go to the grocery store and get a whole chicken – it’s like six, seven dollars, and that’s enough for like four people or more,” Aguilar said. “And then get some sweet potatoes, mash sweet potatoes and green beans – you can get fresh green beans for like $2 a pound.”
Aguilar said this menu, including a rice pudding dessert, would cost around $19 for a family of four – or just under $5 a meal.
He refiles through papers to consult a second menu.
Credit Kara Lofton / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Papusus cook on the stove at Cafe Cimino in Sutton
“Pork. Braising pork. Pork is definitely pretty cheap right now. And you can get like two pounds of pork for like five dollars. And then beets. You can get beets right now for a couple dollars…and kale.”
But beets and kale are not exactly classic West Virginia food. Will people actually eat that?
“Well one of the things you do to try to be healthy is you change your lifestyle,” owner Tim Urbanic said. “If you really can’t eat the beets then you probably don’t want to eat them. But if you don’t eat the beets just because you never thought about it or you never really had it in your menu planning this would be a good place to put it in.”
Credit Kara Lofton / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Urbanic said it’s not just adding new things into your diet that will make the difference, but actually spending time in the kitchen making food from scratch. He said you might find not only appreciation for new tastes, but that returning to the kitchen, will make cooking an activity the whole family can do together.
Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from the Marshall Health, Charleston Area Medical Center and WVU Medicine.
Officials say the West Virginia Turnpike had its highest Thanksgiving holiday travel period this year in at least a decade.
State Parkways Authority spokesman Greg Barr says there were more than 783,000 toll transactions along the 88-mile Turnpike between Wednesday and Sunday.
That’s an increase of 3 percent from Thanksgiving 2015 and 8 percent more than two years ago.
Barr says although he hadn’t checked records before 2006, he remembered that year and 2009 to be record years for travel with 774,000 transactions in 2006 and 772,000 in 2009.
On an average day, there are about 100,000 transactions.
Barr attributed this year’s increase to good weather and low gas prices. He says most holiday traffic consisted of out-of-state travelers, who make up 75 percent of transactions for the year.
