Thanksgiving is almost here, and if you need to run out to grab a last-minute ingredient for your gathering, you'll have some options.

Several grocery chains will be open on Thanksgiving, the most food-centric of the all U.S. holidays. But major retailers will largely be closed, as the trend of luring people kicking off their Black Friday sales bonanzas before the table was cleared of Thanksgiving dinner dishes has slowed considerably.

It's also a day when many businesses will be closed so employees can spend time with family and friends. Thanksgiving is a government holiday. That means federal offices, courts, and post offices will be closed.

With Thanksgiving and the formal launch of the holiday shopping season, Americans will again be consumed with the annual trifecta of turkey, travel and transactions — lots of them. While most big U.S.