GREENSBORO, N.C. — Four days out from Christmas and traffic is heavy around Greensboro as shoppers like Indira Lendsay Roberts pick up last-minute gifts.
"I grew up on pecan pie, my aunt, my favorite aunt, that I'm taking this pie to, she used to make them when I was a little girl. So, she doesn't know she's necessarily getting it," said Roberts.
Roberts ran into her friend Anita Bochmann at Maxie B's bakery who was putting her holiday order in.
"Everything looks so delicious. I had to pick up a couple of things for dinner tonight," Bochmann exclaimed.
Consumers were also out picking up orders for highly anticipated holiday gatherings.
"They want to see the little one. It's been [like] over a year since they've seen them so we're just stopping by," said Marquel Jackson.
While it's easy to wait until the last minute, area bakers say people should order weeks out from pick up.
"Two weeks' notice is better, but sometimes people just think of things they want at the last minute," Debbie Garrett owner of Easy Peasy Decadent Desserts said.
For the first time since 2020, Maxie B's patrons just started doing in-person ordering at the beginning of December, all measures that were taken away during the thick of the pandemic.
Abby Nettesheim with Maxie B's says she's excited to fully open back up
"So there are lots of different options, different ways to order, different ways to sit and eat," she stated.
With various ways to order, employees are baking hundreds of cakes, even if they're not fully staffed.
"We are struggling a little bit, I will say it's not as cushioned as we would like, I know the kitchen team especially they are working really, really hard to make sure everybody has a cake on their table," said Nettesheim.
Employees ask for patience, as a limited number of staff handles pre-pandemic holiday order numbers.