SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Anyone hoping to get cheap turkeys left over from the Thanksgiving influx is fresh out of luck if the turkey exodus at Yellowknife Co-op is anything to go by.

Gerald Rice, meat manager for the Yellowknife Co-op, was in the middle of pricing some 1,500 turkeys for Thanksgiving Saturday afternoon. - Charlotte Hilling/NNSL photo

The Co-op's meat manager, Gerald Rice, ordered in about 1,500 turkeys for the occasion and they were almost all gone by Saturday afternoon.

"We will sell all of those turks for Thanksgiving," he said Saturday.

Rice brings in two types of turkey: frozen Butterball turkey, selling for $1.99 a pound, and frozen Grade A turkey, selling for $1.49 a pound.

"We will sell the majority of them over the weekend but people start their shopping the week before Thanksgiving," he said.

Yellowknifers may consider themselves lucky for having such modestly priced foodstuffs following the $200 turkey that was up for sale in Arctic Bay last week.

The store remained open on Thanksgiving Monday, due to forgetful customers.

"We'll have a pretty decent day Monday, but that's because people forgot their whipping cream or their yams - usually they don't forget the turkey," said Justin Nelson, grocery manager.

While many people were at home Monday with pants unzipped and desperately digesting, employees at the Yellowknife Co-op were toiling for our forgetfulness.

"These are the big days. We take off the days when there's not many shoppers," said Nelson.

"I find that the days go by quicker during the holidays, and you're kept busy all the time."

It was a remarkably philosophical attitude from someone who was expecting to work from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. last Monday.

However, Thanksgiving is the bridesmaid of holidays and is really just a light training run for Christmas and Easter.

"Today's going to be a busy day, but it doesn't compare (to Christmas)," said Nelson.

Sadly, neither Rice nor Nelson had hilarious or harrowing anecdotes about turkey crazed customers. Apparently Yellowknife Co-op customers were raised properly.

"We hate them," joked Nelson. "No, our customers are really good."

Officials with Extra Foods were unavailable for comment at press time.