Greenberg Smoked Turkeys to break ground on new facility following fire, explosion

Published 12:36 pm Wednesday, November 25, 2020

Firefighters, not pictured, battle the Greenberg Smoked Turkey fire in Tyler on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020.

Greenberg Smoked Turkeys Inc. will be breaking ground on a new shipping and freezer facility next week after a fire and explosion earlier this month that severely damaged its storage facilities.

In a message on Facebook, the company thanked everyone for their kind words of encouragement after the East Texas staple had to delay orders for this holiday season.



The company will break ground on the new building Monday. The statement also shared that the website is back online, and Greenberg is accepting orders for the 2021 holiday season.

“We will continue to update on Facebook and our website,” the company wrote. “We wish everyone a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!”

Dozens of commenters on Facebook expressed their joy of seeing the great news from their favorite turkey distributor.

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“Great news! We’ll miss having a Greenberg turkey on our table tomorrow but we’ll definitely order next year,” Elizabeth Schwarz wrote in response to the Greenberg post.

Jessica N. Snow called the news exciting and wished the company a good holiday.

“We will miss the delicious turkey, but are grateful y’all are all safe and sound and wishing you and all your company a happy Thanksgiving,” Snow wrote.

Cindy Beddingfield added that she was sympathetic to Greenberg’s loss.

“So sorry for your loss but we will all be standing in line next year for a wonderful Greenberg turkey,” Beddingfield said. “Great to know ya’ll are already moving forward with construction.”

On Nov. 6, an explosion and fire caused significant damage to the freezer buildings at Greenberg Smoked Turkeys, which has been in business since 1938 in Tyler.

Owner Sam Greenberg announced the decision to refund all orders that were set to be delivered after Nov. 6 due to necessary repairs.

Thousands of customers on social media shared that they didn’t want a refund because they wanted to see the East Texas institution stay strong.

Each holiday season, the Greenbergs typically sell around 200,000 turkeys to local families, far-away fans and even some celebrities, like Oprah (the company was named to her annual list of favorite things in 2017).

The company’s website can be found at gobblegobble.com/view/home.