By Mark Hansel
NKyTribune managing editor
Having lunch delivered at work usually means pizza, or, with a little luck, Chinese food or a sandwich.
That is about to change in Northern Kentucky.
Mr. Delivery, which began operating this week, will bring just about any type of food one can imagine to the office or factory, for a small delivery fee.
Mike Russell, of Cold Spring is Northern Kentucky’s, and the region’s, first Mr. Delivery franchisee. He already has more than 40 restaurants on board and can deliver just about any type of cuisine a customer could ask for.
Russell thought he had invented the wheel when he came up with the idea of delivering food from a variety of restaurants to businesses. It wasn’t until he shared the idea with Robyn Bryson, who is originally from South Africa, that he found out there really aren’t a lot of new ideas out there.
“I was actually going to start my own delivery service and call it munchies,” Russell said. “I thought I was inventing this great thing and she said, ‘I’ve had that since I was a kid.’”
Mr. Delivery CEO Laurence Levine started the company in South Africa in 1992. In 2011, he sold his interest in the company there and moved to the United States to develop the business, which is headquartered in Austin, Texas, in this country.
“We looked into franchising with Mr. Delivery and found out they were in 22 cities,” Russell said. “We took a trip to Austin and met with (Levine). He wanted to make sure we were locked in to the community before offering a franchise, and here we are.”
Russell chose Northern Kentucky because there is no competition and he can build the business organically.
“We wanted to be the first one in and make sure we set that standard high,” he said.
Officially, Mr. Delivery has about 15 restaurants signed on as partners, but will deliver from any of the eateries listed on its site. Formal partnerships are a little more complicated with larger restaurant franchises, but it does not impact a customer’s ability to order.
“We are starting in Crestview Hills and we are branching out into an eight-mile radius from there,” Bryson, who is the marketing manager for the Northern Kentucky franchise, said. “We are going to deliver for anybody within our zone and the plan is to expand outward.”
Signing up is easy.
Just go to mrdelivery.com and respond to the prompts to set up an account or download the app. Click on the “Find me Food” link to get a full list of restaurants, or sort by specialty (American, Asian, Bar-B-Que, etc.). Another link displays a menu for the restaurant of choice.
Bryson said the standard delivery fee is $4.99 and that does not change, regardless of how many orders are placed from a restaurant to a single location.
Some familiar names include Bucks BBQ (Premium Elite Foods) in Latonia, the Grandview Tavern in Fort Mitchell, the Tilted Kilt Pub and Eatery and a host of other restaurants in Florence.
“Using the app, one person from an address acts as a contact and sends out an invitation to all of the coworkers,” Bryson said. “They can all place their orders separately, pay for it separately, and tip, with just the one delivery fee.”
Ideally, companies or businesses would set up a weekly rotation of restaurants that can be changed, with notice, to suit the preference of employees.
Mr. Delivery also offers catering and can go outside the delivery zone for that service with a day or two of notice.
“Any restaurant that we partner with we’re going to be offering catering,” Bryson said. “We’ll do a little bit bigger delivery fee for the drivers, because they are going to be setting up.”
Russell, who has invested about $54,000 in the franchise, said once he made the trip to Austin, he saw that the benefits of becoming a franchisee extend to customers and restaurant partners as well.
“They have a ton of support – the call center, the customer relations, the app and website, and the design team,” Russell said. “All that back-end stuff, my mind was about to explode, but when we went there and saw they do it all for you, it was a no brainer.”
Bryson said Mr. Delivery gives the local franchisee a lot of autonomy and they deviated from the corporate model a little.
“We kind of tried to go and find customers before we found restaurants,” Bryson said. “We connected in the medical communities and we have had people wanting to order for the last few months.”
Bryson is a nurse with a health care company, so she knows how valuable it is to have a wide range of options for food delivery.
“I’ve been in that situation where you clock in for the shift and you’re stuck; whatever you packed is what you are eating,” Bryson said. “So that was my focus in trying to get people from the medical community on board.”
Mr. Delivery also provides free marketing services, which are supported by the corporate office, for its restaurant partners.
“We just sent something the other day with a dish Tilted Kilt wanted to feature and they sent back restaurant-specific design materials that they can use and we can use at events where we set up a tent,” Bryson said. “We will also have menu guides printed with all of the restaurants that we have partnered with.”
The business is headquartered on Central Avenue in Newport, in a building owned by Russell’s father, Chuck. The elder Russell is pastor at the New Hope Christian Center next door and Mike is an associate pastor. His mother, Paula Russell, is co-pastor and is also a partner in the Mr. Delivery franchise.
“A lot of our drivers are people in our congregation, because we want to give back to the community,” Russell said. “Our next growth area will be here in Newport, as well as Fort Thomas and Covington.”
There are six drivers on the schedule and Russell would like to add more. Drivers are employed by DDI, a contractor that conducts background checks and verification of insurance.
“The drivers’ are going to be crucial for us, so we have to get the right people,” Russell said. “The food has to get there on time and the order has to be right.”
For more information about Mr. Delivery, or to inquire about becoming a delivery driver, email Russell at miker@mrdelivery.com.
Contact Mark Hansel at mark.hansel@nkytrib.com
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