For Durango residents and visitors, it’s never been easier to get a sushi roll and a bottle of wine delivered while you wait on your couch.
Local and regional startups are joining major national chains in getting ever products into consumers’ hands and faster than ever before.
Locally, A La Car Durango opened in March, offering menus from a dozen local restaurants. Durango residents can order Spanish octopus sashimi from East By Southwest, or Sante Fe enchiladas from Gazpacho. It will be delivered to your in-town home for a $4.99 service charge.
You can get booze, too. Star Liquors has partnered with a Denver-based startup, Liquor Limo. Download an app, and you can browse Star Liquors’ entire inventory. Then you can order a bottle of cabernet sauvignon or a six-pack of Durango craft beer for delivery, with a $25 minimum.
While local companies are pursuing delivery, corporate America is noticing, as well. Major companies’ delivery operations are getting faster, broader and more sophisticated.
Amazon recently began offering same-day delivery to Prime members in 14 major cities. (Denver is not among them, but Dallas, Phoenix and Los Angeles are).
McDonald’s and Chipotle are experimenting with delivery through an app called Postmates.
Likewise, Starbucks in March said it would team with Postmates to deliver to customers in the coffee chain’s hometown of Seattle.
“It’s all about convenience and having it delivered right to your doorstep,” said Kevin Byrne, chief operation officer of Liquor Limo and one of the startup’s three owners.
Liquor Limo customers can browse by several criteria, and the app will suggest cheaper alternatives based on a lab analysis of the drink’s makeup.
“Each night, we pull in all of the inventory of the store,” Byrne said. “The consumer is actually virtually shopping Star Liquors’ store.”
A La Car Durango is getting busy in its first summer. In one recent delivery, driver John Ratterree picked up two pizzas from Fired Up, located conveniently across the street from A La Car’s office at 736 Main Ave. Ratterree drove north to the 2500 block of West Third Avenue, where he dropped off the pizzas for Ciarra Bristol and her boyfriend.
Ratterree said he’ll make six to 10 deliveries on a busy night.
“We’re becoming a world of convenience,” said Amy Beth Shaffer, who owns A La Car Durango with her husband, Brett.
A La Car Durango is modeled on A La Car in Vail, a long-established business that Brett Shaffer was once a driver for. The Shaffers brought the founder of A La Car onboard, and purchased rights to the name to open in Durango.
For now, A La Car Durango is taking orders only by phone. In time, the Shaffers want to roll out online ordering and perhaps an app. They’re also exploring the possibility of delivering groceries.
Most of the 12 restaurants working with A La Car Durango offer their full menu, and at the same prices. A few are including a 10 percent up-charge, Amy Beth Shaffer said. The restaurants A La Car Durango is working with are a mix of casual and high-end, and American and ethnic foods. The restaurants are 6512, Cuckoo’s, Gazpacho Restaurant, Mahogany Grille, Diamond Belle Saloon, Fired Up Pizzeria, East By Southwest, Eolus Bar and Dining, Himalayan Kitchen, Mutu’s Italian Kitchen, May Palace and Mongolian Grille.
A La Car Durango will deliver up to 20 miles out, far enough to encompass seasonal residents in the resort area north of Durango. Deliveries beyond 10 miles of downtown have higher fees, and most deliveries are in town, Amy Beth Shaffer said.
She said diners can save by avoiding paying restaurant prices for alcohol.
“For the delivery fee, you can have a whole bottle of wine at home rather than a glass at the restaurant,” Shaffer said.
cslothower@durangoherald.com
