SimonDelivers
Encyclopedia
SimonDelivers, Inc. was an online
grocery
that primarily served the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area of Minnesota
, Rochester, Forest Lake, New Prague, Belle Plaine and Jordan, MN and western Wisconsin cities such as Hudson, New Richmond and River Falls. Founded in 1999, it was one example of a company that successfully weathered the dot-com boom
and bust at the turn of the 21st century, in contrast to the famous "dot-bomb" grocery Webvan
which was created around the same time but went out of business in 2001. SimonDelivers also had a financially difficult period that year, but secured $15 million in funding and had focused on developing the local market rather than expanding to other areas of the United States
.
The company's name comes from that of founder Simon Foster. In January 2006, SimonDelivers surpassed three million orders. In 2005, the company began delivering to apartment
s and condominium
s. As of 2005, the company operated seventy four delivery vehicles (each painted bright yellow with a large logo on the side) from two distribution centers, one in New Hope, Minnesota
, and one in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota
.
On July 15, 2008, SimonDelivers announced via email to its customers that it was suspending operations within the next two weeks. President Liwanag Ojala cited increased food and fuel prices as factors in this decision. But the real reason was that the company had never made any money, business had dropped off in the last two years, and it had spent its remaining cash and could not get any one to put new funds into the money losing business.
On July 21, 2008, SimonDelivers announced on its website that it was closed and no longer accepting customer orders.
On August 26, 2008, St. Cloud, MN-based grocery retailer, Coborn’s Incorporated, announced it had acquired and will reopen SimonDelivers as CobornsDelivers beginning in October 2008.
In late October 2008 CobornsDelivers resumed deliveries to ex-SimonDelivers customers.
ONLINE
ONLINE is a magazine for information systems first published in 1977. The publisher Online, Inc. was founded the year before. In May 2002, Information Today, Inc. acquired the assets of Online Inc....
grocery
Supermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
that primarily served the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area of Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, Rochester, Forest Lake, New Prague, Belle Plaine and Jordan, MN and western Wisconsin cities such as Hudson, New Richmond and River Falls. Founded in 1999, it was one example of a company that successfully weathered the dot-com boom
Dot-com bubble
The dot-com bubble was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995–2000 during which stock markets in industrialized nations saw their equity value rise rapidly from growth in the more...
and bust at the turn of the 21st century, in contrast to the famous "dot-bomb" grocery Webvan
Webvan
Webvan was an online "credit and delivery" grocery business that went bankrupt in 2001. It was headquartered in Foster City, California, USA, near Silicon Valley. It delivered products to customers' homes within a 30-minute window of their choosing. At its peak, it offered service in ten U.S...
which was created around the same time but went out of business in 2001. SimonDelivers also had a financially difficult period that year, but secured $15 million in funding and had focused on developing the local market rather than expanding to other areas of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
The company's name comes from that of founder Simon Foster. In January 2006, SimonDelivers surpassed three million orders. In 2005, the company began delivering to apartment
Apartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
s and condominium
Condominium
A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...
s. As of 2005, the company operated seventy four delivery vehicles (each painted bright yellow with a large logo on the side) from two distribution centers, one in New Hope, Minnesota
New Hope, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 20,873 people, 8,665 households, and 5,268 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,098.6 people per square mile . There were 8,746 housing units at an average density of 1,717.4 per square mile...
, and one in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota
Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 29,751 people, 11,257 households, and 7,924 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,038.8 people per square mile . There were 11,457 housing units at an average density of 400.1 per square mile...
.
On July 15, 2008, SimonDelivers announced via email to its customers that it was suspending operations within the next two weeks. President Liwanag Ojala cited increased food and fuel prices as factors in this decision. But the real reason was that the company had never made any money, business had dropped off in the last two years, and it had spent its remaining cash and could not get any one to put new funds into the money losing business.
On July 21, 2008, SimonDelivers announced on its website that it was closed and no longer accepting customer orders.
On August 26, 2008, St. Cloud, MN-based grocery retailer, Coborn’s Incorporated, announced it had acquired and will reopen SimonDelivers as CobornsDelivers beginning in October 2008.
In late October 2008 CobornsDelivers resumed deliveries to ex-SimonDelivers customers.
See also
- AmazonFreshAmazonFreshAmazonFresh is a subsidiary of the Amazon.com American e-commerce company in Seattle, Washington. It is reviving the business model of ordering groceries online for home delivery first popularized by such companies as HomeGrocer.com and Webvan in the late '90s....
- FreshDirectFreshDirectright|thumb|Fresh Direct logo FreshDirect is an online grocer that delivers to residences and offices in the New York City metropolitan area. FreshDirect also offers next-day delivery to most of Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, Staten Island, Nassau County, Westchester County, ...
- Gopher GroceryGopher GroceryGopher Grocery is an online grocer serving the Twin Cities Metropolitan area of Minnesota. It was founded in December of 2005 by William Orkin. It was based on the belief that grocery delivery does not have to be expensive, with its key selling points being a $2 delivery fee and low prices that...
- Grocery GatewayGrocery GatewayGrocery Gateway is a grocery delivery service based in Malton, Ontario and serves the entire Greater Toronto Area .Grocery Gateway was the brainchild of Toronto entrepreneur Bill Di Nardo, who along with co-founders Scott Bryan, Stephen Tallevi, Tomas Berinstein, Ben Jones, and Alan Lamb, started...
- HomeGrocerHomeGrocerHomeGrocer.com, Inc. was one of the first online supermarket businesses, started in 1997. It was founded by Terry Drayton. Buoyed by investments from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Amazon.com, John Malone of Liberty Media, Martha Stewart and Jim Barksdale, HomeGrocer.com built and operated the...
- HyVee
- PeapodPeapodPeapod, LLC is an online grocery delivery service owned by Royal Ahold and operating only in a select number of US cities. The company is based in Skokie, Illinois."." Peapod. Retrieved on February 15, 2011. "Corporate Headquarters 9933 Woods Drive, Skokie, IL 60077 ."-History:Peapod was founded in...
- Publix Direct
- ShopRite (United States)ShopRite (United States)ShopRite Supermarkets is a retailers' cooperative chain of supermarkets in the northeastern United States, with stores in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania...
- Winder FarmsWinder FarmsWinder Farms, headquartered in West Valley City, Utah, is an online grocer providing dairy and other grocery products to households in Utah and Las Vegas, Nevada.-History:The business was started in 1880 by John R. Winder...
- YourGrocer.comYourGrocer.ComYourGrocer.com is owned by New YourGrocer LLC, which began operations in the greater New York City area in May 2002. Marketed as "the warehouse club that delivers," YourGrocer.com aims to provide the convenience of online shopping and home delivery with the economies of buying groceries at...