We all know that Thanksgiving should be a time to slow down and join our family and friends in gratitude, but more often than not, the holiday feels stressful. We cram in a couple of rushed workdays and move straight into organizing, planning, traveling, cooking, and veering away from our normal routines. To save your sanity, we’ve rounded up nine Southern startups that will make this year’s Turkey Day seamless, freeing up time to relax, catch up with loved ones, and eat that second piece of pumpkin pie.
- Skip the hectic grocery store checkout and order your ingredients (or pre-made sides – no one’s judging) with Charlottesville-based Relay Foods. The platform, which features national brands and local farmers and producers, makes shopping for quality, healthy, and sustainable groceries easy. Users can select a pick-up spot or have their orders shipped directly to their front door.
- Forget something at the store and need it later that day? Check out Shipt, an online grocery delivery service out of Birmingham, Alabama. Shipt is a mobile and web app that partners with local reliable shoppers to fulfill your order and deliver same-day (sometimes as soon as one hour after your order).
- If your aunt asked you to bring a side dish and you have no idea what to make, turn to Herndon, Virginia startup Family Oven. The site helps users create social connections around recipes, build personalized homepages with favorited recipes, and decide what to cook based on “what’s in the fridge” search technology.
- Your in-laws are coming over, your house is a disaster, and you don’t have much time to clean, let alone find and schedule someone else to do it. Check out Hux, a startup based in the Atlanta Tech Village. The site enables users to find, book, and pay for a local cleaner in two minutes flat.
- Nothing like a holiday to make you notice all of those little odd jobs you haven’t finished around the house. Get them done quickly with Chapel Hill-based Sweeps, an online platform to connect customers with a qualified and vetted network of over 700 college students looking for quick jobs like yard work, furniture assembly, painting, and more.
- Thanksgiving is the perfect time to share stories with friends and family, whether in person or on the phone. Capture those “back in my day” tales from your grandma with Atlanta-based Umenta. Their StoryCall app helps families preserve memorable moments by saving group calls on a private mobile app.
- You’ll probably want to connect with old friends or coordinate a group activity with the family over Thanksgiving, but the last thing you want to manage is a string of texts or emails. Check out Tribr, a Greenville, SC based company that helps you connect the group, send invites, select the best date and time, manage group payments, and more.
- Answering endless questions about your job, your relationship, your kids, and your thoughts on the upcoming presidential election is enough to drive a person crazy. Luckily, Chattanooga-based WeCounsel has a HIPPA compliant telemedicine platform that connects counselors and psychologists to clients through secure video and other engagement tools.
- If you’re still in a food coma the day after Thanksgiving, opt out of Black Friday shopping and find some relaxation with Mount Pleasant, SC company, MassageBook. The site helps users find highly rated massage therapists in their area, check pricing and availability, and book appointments online.
