Sometimes working together clearly benefits both parties, as Orion’s Hollywood Market and the Orion-based GoGet Grocery Delivery discovered in April 2011.
Since then, the companies have worked together to put a delivery system in every Hollywood Market across south-east Michigan, but the relationship started with something as simple as a billboard.
‘We started our business in the summer of 2010 and we were doing a bunch of marketing,? said Ryan Lewandowski. ‘The guy in charge of Hollywood Market saw the billboard on M-24 and asked us to come in and we started talking. It kind of just worked out from there.?
Lewandowski noted a number of benefits for his company and his customers that the partnership offers. It allows the company to get free advertising in the store, on the website and they have a say over what’s in the store’s inventory, which in turn keeps the costs down for customers.
Hollywood Market Owner Tom Welch said he was always looking for a way to reliably deliver groceries and finding GoGet Grocery offered him just that.
‘We started off small, but we were on the same page and now they’re expanding the service to all of our stores,? said Welch. ‘We ran them prominently in a circular we put out and Ryan has gotten a lot of calls because of it. The feedback from Ryan is that customers are happy there is this opportunity.?
Welch added the service fills a gap presented by callers requesting a delivery service. Out-of-towners or people who simply could not reach their grandparents wanted some way to get food to them and GoGet offered them that solution.
‘Sometimes people are too busy living life and that’s where Ryan comes in to help them get their groceries,? Welch added.
He said the partnership has proven a healthy one and that the companies look forward to growing it.
GoGet Groceries started in the summer of 2010 under the ownership of both Lewandowski, a 2004 LOHS graduate and his partner Bill Peterson, a 2005 Orion graduate. They both worked second jobs and Peterson eventually became more involved with that second job, forcing him to leave the company. But GoGet Grocery has continued strongly, investing in a refrigerated van and expanding their operation to most of Oakland County.
Lewandowski said he will soon hire other employees to help with the operations. Still, he tries to make the business a personal thing for his customers.
‘People really feel like they have a personal shopper with me and I pride myself on that,? he said. ‘Whatever they need I try to go above and beyond to get that for them.?
Go Get Groceries charges $10 regardless of order size for a delivery and are available by phone at 800-474-1134 or online at gogetdelivery.com.