Have a Gift Card?

For a little over a year now, we moved to a pick-up and delivery model here at our humble little deli. It has had its challenges and we work to stay in front of those as fast as you can say “One Cajun Finn, please”.  Many of you have wondered, “Can I use this gift card burning a hole in my pocket if I can’t come inside the deli?” YES! Yes you can!!

But first, let's determine what KIND of gift card you have. We have two varieties here at The Smokehaus: the online "gift card" (really an online coupon) and physical gift cards (see picture below.)

The online gift cards are for orders placed in our nationwide shipping mail order department. Sending someone from out-of-town a little love from MN? This is where you would use this. The second species of gift card is a physical card that you would normally use at the register... normally. Except that things aren't the normal we used to know.

To order for pick-up or delivery using your gift card:

1. Call us to place your order. (218-724-7307, Option 1)

2. Let us know you’re paying with a gift card and take note of the numbers on the back because they are extra tiny. We’ll ask you for those numbers to process the payment.

Need a last minute gift for your friend that you haven’t seen a year… because Covid? We’ve got you! Call us on the phone and we’ll treat that gift card just like a sandwich order and coordinate with you on a pick up here at the deli.

5 Ways NWS Can Help You Win the Holidays

First of all, welcome back to 5 Things™, returning on an atypical day after an atypical absence. We're right on the cusp of my favorite holiday, Halloween, so I'm feeling festive. This week's edition is a special one, focused on our upcoming holiday mail order season, and the many ways in which Northern Waters Smokehaus can help you "win" the holidays.

It's an audacious claim to make, but I'm somewhat certain that by the end of this article, you'll have a clear advantage over your holiday competition. No longer will your guests be "saving room" for more exciting meals to come, leaving you with an abundance of leftovers to deal with in the following weeks, and if they do, hey, you've got Smokehaus leftovers.

Here we go, in no particular order:

1. Roast a whole hunk of meat:

We've got options: our smoked Berkshire ham, smoke-roasted porketta, maple-sage smoked Ferndale Market turkey breast, and smoked pastrami are all guaranteed to launch your guests' taste buds right into the stratosphere, and preparation is simple enough: braise alongside some choice seasonal vegetables, allow to cool, carve to perfection, profit.

Here's a handful of ideas to get the brain moving:

2. Catch "The Worm" with our Early Bird sale:

Oof. That's a gross one, but, low-hanging fruit that it was, I had to go for it. Would it have been better if I'd said, "The Proverbial Worm?" Perhaps.

More about our actual Early Bird sale follows:

October 24th through November 14th, you can take 15% off your cart when ordering online, by entering the coupon code earlybird19 before checkout.

15% off everything is nothing at which to shake a stick, unless you're shaking that stick with joy. Here are the sales's details:

• You can use the code on as many transactions as you like, within the timeframe of the sale.

• The 15% discount applies on everything except items already affected by another sale, and is applied before shipping costs.

• The discount cannot be combined with other coupons.

• As long as you finalize the transaction within the sale's timeframe, you can have your items shipped whenever you like. Perfect for planning your holidays ahead of schedule.

3. Read some of our previous blog posts about NWS and the holidays:

While I've got some great ideas for improving the proverbial wheel, now isn't the time to re-invent it.

Here's a handful of links to previous years' writings about NWS Mail Order and the holiday season.

4. Memorize these cutoff dates:

For those who prefer to wait until the last minute, whether it's waiting for that holiday bonus to clear, or simply living on the edge, these are the hard-and-fast cutoff dates you ought to remember:

Tuesday, November 19th – Last day to order to receive before Thanksgiving. Wednesday, November 20th for Minnesota

residential shipping addresses.

Tuesday, December 17th – Last day to order to receive before Christmas. Wednesday, December 18th for Minnesota

residential shipping addresses.

Wednesday, December 18th – Last Day of Shipping before Christmas AND New Year's Eve

Tuesday, December 24th through Sunday, January 5th 2020 – NO SHIPPING! Mail Order Office closed for the holidays.

Monday, January 6th 2020 – Normal shipping schedule resumes.

Keep these dates in mind and you'll have your favorite NWS goodies on hand, on time

5. Don't forget about these upcoming holiday deals:

Pigs in Space is our special Cyber Monday deal. From 12 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. (00:00:01 - 23:59:59) on Monday, December 2nd, Minnesota and Midwest orders will have free shipping, and continental shipping will be half-price.

Holiday Gift Card Frenzy is the working title I'm giving to our annual gift card sale. For every $100 of gift cards purchased—whether $10x10, $20x5, $50x2, $100x1, or some combination of the like—you'll receive a bonus $20 gift card, and there's no known limit on how many bonus gift cards you can accumulate. 20% back for yourself, or to spread the gifting a little further, is pretty great. Offer available in-store only (whether you wait in line, or order in-advance for pickup), online gift cards do not apply.

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