MU sophomore Josh Margherita said he believed TheGoodz, a new Columbia-based food and alcohol delivery app, was too good to be true.
That was before he began regularly using the service. He said the pricing and delivery times have kept him a customer since the new service went live just over a month ago.
“You’re paying normal prices,” Margherita said. “It’s not jacked up prices or anything. It’s a great way to get what you need.”
He added that the average time he’s had to wait is around 10 minutes.
The company, created by cousins and business partners Landon and Tristan Moore, supplies these products. The service requires a free app and a monthly subscription of $9.99. Customers only pay the subscription fee and the price of the products. The delivery drivers are also paid an hourly wage, so there are no added fees for deliveries or tipping. The app offers unlimited deliveries of products like snacks, soft drinks, over-the-counter medications and alcoholic beverages, which the business keeps at their warehouse on Business Loop 70. According to the app, they will offer tobacco and household essentials like toilet paper soon.
Landon Moore, who graduated from MU in 2017 and came up with the idea for TheGoodz, says that the unique model is what draws business. TheGoodz owns all their merchandise, which it purchases from wholesalers like PepsiCo.
“Since we own our own product and we own the stuff that we’re moving, we’re able to take the tipping aspect out of it and just act as a traditional gas station, who has their markup on their food and their various other products, and use that instead of the consumer tip,” Landon Moore said.
TheGoodz advertises its service on and offline. Flyers and stickers with TheGoodz’s brown paper bag logo have been placed by the cousins on lightposts and bathroom stalls across campus. They also have a growing Instagram following — with 60 posts and more than 700 followers. Canvassing is another one of the business’ outreach strategies.
“One day, I was at Walmart with my friend, and [Landon Moore] was canvassing and handing out flyers and trying to get people to learn more about it,” Margherita said. “We talked to him for about 20 minutes, just seeing how it all works and everything.”
Landon Moore primarily oversees TheGoodz’s marketing presence, while Tristan Moore handles deliveries and merchandising.
Tristan Moore said the purchasing and delivery of alcohol was the business’ biggest hurdle, since they had to obtain a license to sell it.
“We’re, in a way, the pioneers for alcohol delivery out here,” Tristan Moore said.“[The city] was kind of telling us that we’re learning as they’re learning, because they don’t have anything like this — it was a lengthy process.”
When a user purchases a product that requires an ID, Tristan Moore said they require the customer to have identification ready at the time of delivery. Tristan Moore said they don’t cover the product with their signature brown paper bag, like they would a snack or soft drink.
The high population of college students made Columbia the ideal starting point for the cousins and their delivery service, Landon Moore said. As the business gains profit and renown, he and Tristan Moore hope to expand to other college towns.
“Our goals are to get to the other Midwest college campuses,” Landon Moore said. “So right now, we’re really just focusing on Mizzou and getting our secondary location up, because having two locations allows us to have quicker transit time and decrease our labor costs. Then, we’re hoping in 2022 we can get a location opening in Kansas City and then also at MSU.”
Margherita said he hopes to see more product selection soon, as the business continues to garner subscriptions and expand into other cities.
“Their app is pretty limited in what they’re able to sell, food-and drink-wise,” Margherita said. “More of a wider selection, rather than just basic name-brand stuff would be nice.”
Landon Moore said the growth of product availability will be a challenge, as the business is still in its first month of operation.
“Right now, everything that’s on the app comes out of my savings,” Landon Moore said. “So we’re slowly expanding, but we’re hoping by next school year that we’ll be able to have a liquor selection that is larger than any other liquor store.”
The pair said above all, the Columbia area and their customers have and will continue to make their challenges, expansion and growth with TheGoodz possible.
“We appreciate all the support we’ve gotten so far, and we appreciate all the future business we’re going to get,” Tristan Moore said.
_Edited by Emmet Jamieson | ejamieson@themaneater.com_
