New Spokane food delivery company serves up meals with a local touch

Until recently, dinnertime at the Dierks home often meant greasy bags of fast food.

Between the 80-plus hours a week Jeremy Dierks devotes to his tire store, Perfection Tire and Auto Repair, and the mobility challenges of his wife’s multiple sclerosis, the ease of fast food made it a necessary evil, he said.

So when his wife stumbled across an ad on Facebook for a company promising affordable and convenient food delivery from any area restaurant – and to any location – Dierks said he knew he had to give it a try and downloaded the app.

While the arrival of UberEATS made a big splash when it introduced its service to Spokane at the beginning of August, a second delivery service – Take Out Deliveries Spokane – has quietly been building a loyal fan base since it launched nearly seven months ago.

For the first month, Take Out Deliveries received only 32 orders, mostly from friends and family, company founder Eric Prunier said. But last month the company fielded 300 orders, and it had already reached that record by the middle of August, he said.

“We’re pretty young,” Prunier said. “But we’re growing exponentially.”

Dierks said he probably was one of Prunier’s first customers, and he remembers getting to know Prunier’s wife and child when they would bring his deliveries in the company’s early days. As business has grown, Dierks said, his meals are delivered by a series of new faces, but they always have one thing in common.

“They’re all great,” he said emphatically. “They’re always super-friendly and always communicating with you. It’s customer service all day long, which is pleasant to see in this day and age.”

Though it predates UberEATS in the Spokane marketplace, Prunier said, his platform and mobile app certainly follow in the footsteps of Uber, allowing customers to place orders via smartphones to independent drivers employed as contractors. What sets Take Out Deliveries Spokane apart is price, and its willingness to drive anywhere, Prunier said.

For a $4 delivery fee – or $3, if ordering from one of the company’s 13 partners – plus 50 cents per mile from its Northtown headquarters to the customer, Take Out Deliveries Spokane shaves off some of the cost of its competitor, and it delivers every sixth order free of charge.

UberEATS charges $4.99 for delivery, and it may charge more if the restaurant is in a busy area, according to Uber’s website.

And unlike UberEATS, Take Out Deliveries Spokane will deliver just about anything, Prunier said. From groceries to clothing, and even moving furniture, the company understands it can help a variety of people, including those who aren’t mobile, he said.

Prunier attributes part of the company’s success to the fact it is local, Prunier said. Customers like knowing they can call and speak with him directly, and being part of the community allows the company to build strong interpersonal relationships with its drivers, he said.

Take Out Deliveries Spokane’s local touch has even caught the attention of restaurants that have been frustrated by other food-delivery services.

Aloha Island Grills, which serves up Hawaiian cuisine at locations on Monroe Street and Francis Avenue, was among the first Spokane restaurants to partner with Prunier. When Prunier called back in February, the restaurant’s owner. Pat Keegan, said he was hesitant to join at first, remembering the problems he had when his restaurant tried parterning with another food-delivery service. But Keegan said Prunier was eager to work with him to address his concerns, and that unlike UberEATS, Prunier was not looking to take any of the restaurant’s profits.

UberEATS, which has partnered with over 100 Spokane restaurants, charges restaurants for an UberEATS tablet to take orders – and also takes a cut of each order they deliver.

“We got the call from UberEATS, and their plan was just outrageous,” Keegan said. “I can’t just give away 35 percent; I’d close down.”

Aloha Island Grills has seen a small bump in business because of deliveries, but the most notable change has been the positive response from customers and employees who appreciate the hassle-free delivery, Keegan said. He was impressed enough by Take Out Deliveries Spokane that he talked to neighboring businesses about signing up with Prunier.

“I hope customers are aware of what Eric does for us,” he said. “It means a lot to a restaurant.”