CGA: Thanksgiving Week Boosts On-Premise to 24 Consecutive Weeks Above 2019 Levels

Thanksgiving week gave dining and drinking establishments a boost on both the night before the holiday and the holiday itself, according to on-premise research firm CGA.

“While not necessarily perceived as an on-premise event, with many outlet[s] choosing not to trade, Thanksgiving (November 25) velocities for outlets that did remain open were up +29% vs. the previous Thursday and +64% higher than the average Thursday across the rest of 2021,” CGA wrote.

Check values increased 149% on Thanksgiving, propelling it to be 2021’s strongest check value day.

“The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, often referred to as Blackout Wednesday (November 24) also delivered strong velocity growth, with velocity at state levels up between +25% and +47% vs. the previous Wednesday,” CGA wrote.

The day before Thanksgiving was the strongest Wednesday of 2021 so far, with sales velocity (+44%), check values (+17%), and traffic (+24%) all up compared to an average Wednesday.

The week ending November 27 marked nearly six months of on-premise sales velocity greater than 2019 levels, CGA reported.

In New York, sales velocity increased +4% vs. 2019 and +117% vs. 2020. Week-over-week sales velocity in the Empire State declined -13%, with New York City outpacing the rest of the state in declines.

In Illinois, sales velocity increased +13% vs. 2019 and +162% vs. 2020. Week-over-week sales velocity declined -10% compared to the week ending November 20. Similar to New York, declines in Chicago outpaced the rest of the state.

In California, sales velocity increased +36% vs. 2019 and +99% vs. 2020. Sales velocity remained flat week-over-week compared to the week ending November 20. Velocity declines in the Golden State’s major cities outpaced the rest of the state, with San Diego (about -15%) and Los Angeles (about -10%) posting sharp week-over-week declines. San Francisco (around -5%) improved trends compared to the week ending November 20.

Unlike New York, Illinois and California — where governors maintained stricter COVID-19 restrictions on the on-premise channel for longer periods of time — Texas (+47%) and Florida (+33%) posted smaller gains relative to 2020.

On-premise sales velocity in Texas increased +31% vs. 2019, and declined -8% week-over-week. Declines in Austin and Dallas outpaced the rest of the state. Houston, while still down about -5%, outperformed all other markets.

In Florida, on-premise sales velocity increased +18% vs. 2019 and declined -4% week-over week. Only Orlando (around +5%) posted gains.

Drizly: Beer Category Loses 3 Sharepoints in Thanksgiving E-Commerce Orders vs. 2020

On-demand, e-commerce beverage alcohol marketplace Drizly reported that the spirits category (45%) edged the wine (43%) category as the most popular bev-alc category between November 22-24 as consumers stocked up for Thanksgiving.

Beer accounted for just 12% of all Drizly orders during that time frame, down from 15% in 2020. However, light lager (No. 8) and hard seltzer (No. 9) cracked Drizly’s top 10 subsegments during those three days.