Northland Markets Round Off Their Busy Holiday Shopping Days

Mount Royal Market has all working hands on deck to help patrons prepare for Christmas.

DULUTH, Minn.- December 23 is the busiest shopping day of the Christmas season and all hands are on deck at many of the Northland’s grocery stores.

Mount Royal Market is wrapping up their final hours helping shoppers prepare for Christmas meals.

Employees are worried about last minute customers before closing early on Christmas Eve but say it’s nothing they can’t handle.

“You see the same people over and over again as their kids get older, they come back from school, they come back and we’re kind of a part of a lot of family’s shopping traditions. They’ve been doing it for a long, long time here,” general manager Steve Schadewald said.

Baking materials, cookies and sweets are selling the fastest.

For those who aren’t a fan of cooking for the holidays, the market’s deli is busy at work preparing trays for pick–up. With a full time chef on–hand, the deli was taking catered orders up until Saturday night.

“It’s a lot of trays, it’s a lot of work, it’s a lot of people here in the deli– about 30 people are involved in it. It’s crazy, but we enjoy it, we wouldn’t be here if we didn’t enjoy it,” deli manager Bruce Schneider said.

The deli isn’t taking anymore orders for trays but made an extra 150 for those trying to make a last minute pick up on Christmas Eve.