Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2010

Mobile Waiters launches in Garner, Cleveland

Mike and Julie Collins say the phone rings off the hook at their home in the Cleveland community.

They don't mind, though. Each call is another sign that their bet on Mobile Waiters, a restaurant-delivery service, is likely to pay off.

"We're amazed at how much it's grown," Julie Collins said.

Mobile Waiters launched Feb.1 and serves Garner and the Cleveland community. Customers order local restaurant items over the phone or online, pay a delivery fee, and the Collinses fax in the order and send a driver to pick it up for home delivery.

"It's like I'm a waiter at a restaurant, only I have wheels," Mike Collins said.

The service has been well received so far, the couple said, particularly in the Cleveland community, where delivery options are limited to a couple of pizza places and where many residents are commuters who don't want to cook or go out once they get home.

The delivery is anywhere within seven miles of the restaurant. That extends almost to downtown Raleigh for Garner restaurants and toward McGee's Crossroads for Cleveland restaurants. For an extra fee, drivers will go a bit farther.

So far, participating restaurants are Chili's, Cold Stone Creamery, Ole Time Barbecue and Kaze Japanese Steakhouse in Garner and Cleveland Draft House and La Piazza Italian in Cleveland. The Collinses expect to add more in the coming months.

"The goal is to have something from each cuisine type," Mike Collins said, adding that the participating restaurants have welcomed the extra business.

In addition to growing the restaurant selection, the Collinses hope to eventually expand delivery into Clayton and Fuquay-Varina.

Mike Collins got the idea for the new business after he was laid off last year. A friend had just started a Mobile Waiters in Cary and encouraged him to try one in Garner. Mike talked to Julie about the plan, and she didn't talk him out of it, so he figured it was likely a sound venture.

"I'm the dreamer, and she's the realist," Mike said.

The start-up costs were small - mailers, computer equipment and insulated delivery bags. They take calls and keep orders on track from their home while taking care of their kids and dogs. Delivery drivers stay at their own homes while awaiting the next order.

Mobile Waiters has two drivers now but will add more as business grows.

Despite how hectic their house has become, the Collinses say they're loving the experience. "I've never started a business before, so learning this was so neat," Julie said.