Pink Dot

Last updated
Pink Dot
Company type Grocer
Industry Retail
Founded1987 (Los Angeles, California)
Headquarters Los Angeles, California
ProductsDeli, frozen foods, general grocery, snacks, liquor
Website pinkdot.com

Pink Dot is a quick delivery prepared-to-order grocery store based on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California. The store has appeared in several movies and television shows, including HBO's Entourage . [1]

Contents

History

Entrepreneur Bill Toro founded the chain in 1987 with the purchase of a single liquor store. His idea to create a delivery-based operation arose from numerous complaints he observed about the traffic in Los Angeles. [2] Pink Dot is a privately owned corporation with Toro retaining 30% control. [2]

In 1996, Pink Dot was referred to as a rapidly expanding grocery delivery company in a Los Angeles Times story that noted the store guaranteed delivery within 45 minutes for a service charge of $9.99. [3] Orders were filled from five warehouses. [3] Company executives at the time predicted home delivery would become a "big part of the changing face of retail."[ citation needed ]

As Pink Dot prepared to expand into Orange County, the company phased out its signature polka-dotted, propeller-topped Volkswagen Beetle delivery cars after market tests showed that Orange County residents wanted their purchases delivered in more low-profile vehicles. [4]

Pink Dot partnered with order takers such as the now-defunct Kozmo.com, which went defunct in the bursting of the dot-com bubble, as a way to expand the product line into items such as Compact Discs and pharmaceuticals. [5]

Late 2000s

In 2008, Pink Dot announced a partnership with Ford Motor Company and began using the Ford Transit Connect, a delivery system that Pink Dot president Sol Yamini described as "room service for your home." [1] Later[ when? ], Pink Dot partnered with Postmates to extend its offerings to app users.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Supermarket</span> Large format of grocery store

A supermarket is a self-service shop offering a wide variety of food, beverages and household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earlier grocery stores, but is smaller and more limited in the range of merchandise than a hypermarket or big-box market. In everyday United States usage, however, "grocery store" is often used to mean "supermarket".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kozmo.com</span>

Kozmo.com was a venture-capital-funded online company that promised free one-hour delivery of "videos, games, DVDs, music, mags, books, food, basics & more" and Starbucks coffee in several major cities in the United States. It was founded in March 1998 by young investment bankers Joseph Park and Yong Kang in New York City, and was out of business by April 2001. The company is often referred to as an example of the dot-com bubble. In January 2013, the brand was bought by Yummy.com and announced that they would relaunch soon. In March 2018, Kozmo was relaunched as a warehouse club. The Kozmo.com website is offline as of July 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Parcel Service</span> American package delivery company

United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) is an American multinational shipping & receiving and supply chain management company founded in 1907. Originally known as the American Messenger Company specializing in telegraphs, UPS has expanded to become a Fortune 500 company and one of the world's largest shipping couriers. UPS today is primarily known for its ground shipping services as well as the UPS Store, a retail chain which assists UPS shipments and provides tools for small businesses. UPS offers air shipping on an overnight or two-day basis and delivers to post office boxes through UPS Mail Innovations and UPS SurePost, two services that pass on packages to the United States Postal Service for last-mile delivery.

Sobeys Inc. is a national supermarket chain in Canada with over 1,500 stores operating under a variety of banners. Headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia, it operates stores in all ten provinces and accumulated sales of more than C$25.1 billion in the fiscal 2019 operating year. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Empire Company Limited, a Canadian business conglomerate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Publix</span> American supermarket chain in the southeastern United States

Publix Super Markets, Inc., commonly known as Publix, is an employee-owned American supermarket chain headquartered in Lakeland, Florida. Founded in 1930 by George W. Jenkins, Publix is a private corporation that is wholly owned by present and past employees and members of the Jenkins family. Publix operates throughout the Southeastern United States, with locations in Florida (867), Georgia (212), Alabama (90), South Carolina (69), Tennessee (58), North Carolina (54), Virginia (20), and Kentucky (1). Kentucky is the most recent addition to the Publix footprint, with the company's first store in that state having opened on January 10, 2024, in Louisville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Webvan</span> Bankrupt technology company

Webvan was a dot-com company and grocery business that filed for bankruptcy in 2001 after 3 years of operation. It was headquartered in Foster City, California, United States. It delivered products to customers' homes within a 30-minute window of their choosing. At its peak, it offered service in ten US areas: the San Francisco Bay Area; Dallas; Sacramento; San Diego; Los Angeles; Orange County, California; Chicago; Seattle; Portland, Oregon; and Atlanta, Georgia. The company had hoped to expand to 26 cities by 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Safeway</span> American supermarket chain owned by Albertsons Companies, Inc

Safeway, Inc. is an American supermarket chain. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, delicatessen, floral and pharmacy, as well as Starbucks coffee shops and fuel centers. It is a subsidiary of Albertsons after being acquired by private equity investors led by Cerberus Capital Management in January 2015. Safeway's primary base of operations is in the Western United States with some stores located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Eastern Seaboard. The subsidiary is headquartered in Pleasanton, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vons</span> American supermarket chain owned by Albertsons Companies, Inc

Vons is a supermarket chain owned by Albertsons, with most of its locations in Southern California and the Las Vegas Valley. It is headquartered in Fullerton, California, and operates stores under the Vons and Pavilions banners. It was owned by Safeway Inc. and headquartered in Arcadia, California, before that company was acquired by and folded into Albertsons along with all of their subsidiaries, including Vons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delivery robot</span> Autonomous robot for "last mile" delivery

A delivery robot is an autonomous robot that provides "last mile" delivery services. An operator may monitor and take control of the robot remotely in certain situations that the robot cannot resolve by itself such as when it is stuck in an obstacle. Delivery robots can be used in different settings such as food delivery, package delivery, hospital delivery, and room service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transit Access Pass</span> Physical and electronic public transit smart card used in Los Angeles

The Transit Access Pass (TAP) is a contactless smart card used for automated fare collection on most public transport agencies within Los Angeles County, California. The card is also available in electronic form, free of charge, in Apple Wallet, thereby bypassing the need to purchase the plastic USD $2 card. It is administered by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), and the card and fare collection systems are manufactured by Cubic Transportation Systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amazon Fresh</span> Grocery store chain and delivery service operated by Amazon.com

Amazon Fresh is a subsidiary of the American e-commerce company Amazon in Seattle, Washington. It is a grocery retailer with physical stores and delivery services in some U.S. cities, as well as some international cities, such as Berlin, Hamburg, London, Milan, Munich, Rome, and some other locations in Singapore and India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Last mile (transportation)</span> Last leg of the movement of people or goods from hubs

In supply chain management and transportation planning, the last mile or last kilometer is the last leg of a journey comprising the movement of passengers and goods from a transportation hub to a final destination. The concept of "last mile" was adopted from the telecommunications industry, which faced difficulty connecting individual homes to the main telecommunications network. Similarly, in supply chain management, last-mile describes the logistical challenges at the last phase of transportation getting people and packages from hubs to their final destinations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Google Express</span> Same-day shopping service from Google

Google Express, formerly Google Shopping Express, was a service from Google.

X5 Group is Russia's largest food retailer. In 2012, the organization of X5-Retail Group LLC was liquidated, and in 2018 X5 Group LLC was opened.

Foodpanda is an online food and grocery delivery platform owned by Berlin-based Delivery Hero. Foodpanda operates as the lead brand for Delivery Hero in Asia, with its headquarters in Singapore. It is currently the largest food and grocery delivery platform in Asia, outside of China, operating in 11 markets across Asia.

Drizly was an online ordering and delivery platform that facilitated the delivery of alcohol from local retailers via its mobile app or website. During 2020, the company had approximately 4,000 retail partners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Honestbee</span> Asian online grocery and delivery business

Honestbee was an online grocery and food delivery service as its core business, a concierge service, and also a parcel delivery service for its B2B clients. The company provided personal shoppers that pick products for its clients. Consumers utilized the company's mobile app or website to interface with the company, and the store pickers and retail stores also utilized the mobile app. In Singapore, honestbee also provided laundry collection services.

Gopuff Digital delivery service

GoBrands, Inc., doing business as Gopuff, is an American consumer goods and food delivery company headquartered in Philadelphia. The company operates in more than 650 US cities through approximately 500 microfulfillment centers as of October 2021. It also operates in the United Kingdom, following a takeover of Newcastle upon Tyne-based Fancy. As of July 2021, the company was valued at $15 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roadie (app)</span> American crowdsourced delivery platform

Roadie Inc. is an American crowdsourced delivery platform for business and private same-day, urgent and scheduled delivery in the United States. The company was founded in 2014 and launched its web and mobile apps in January 2015. As of September 2021, it reported having over 200,000 drivers covering more than 20,000 zip codes.

Robomart is an American technology company headquartered in Santa Monica, California that builds autonomous smart shops for cafes, ice cream parlors, and quick-service restaurants. The company’s white label platform gives retailers the option to expand their footprint at a significantly lower cost than traditional brick-and-mortar real-estate.

References

  1. 1 2 "Transit connect offers cargo space, reliability to grocery service that caters to customers" . Retrieved 2009-07-18.
  2. 1 2 Sarkisian, Nola L. "Lazy people of L.A., rejoice: Pink Dot is expanding". Los Angeles Business Journal. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
  3. 1 2 George White SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ENTERPRISE; Convenience Stores; Grocery Deliverers Find a Time-Strapped Audience page 1 August 21, 1996 Los Angeles Times
  4. Leslie Earnest O.C. Business Plus; HEARD ON THE BEAT / RETAIL; Pink Dot Dumps Its Funky Beetle July 7, 1999 Los Angeles Times
  5. Sandoval, Greg. "Pink Dot takes grocery Web site national". CNET News. Retrieved 2009-07-18.