Hawi resident opens online grocery service

By Erin Miller

West Hawaii Today

emiller@westhawaiitoday.com

A fellow customer’s comment at Costco this summer got Lisa Best wondering how feasible a grocery delivery service might be for West Hawaii.

Best heard the woman remark on how the warehouse retailer was always packed on the day after a holiday, and how nice it might be to have someone else make the Costco run for her.

“It made our light bulb moment,” said Best, a Hawi resident who went online to research grocery and goods delivery services and found wegoshop.com. “It felt like a great fit.”

Best became an associate with the company, which charges flat fees for orders up to $300, and a 12 percent charge on larger orders. Other fees include charges for visiting more than one store, for picking up coupons prior to shopping and for stores that require customers to bag their own groceries.

Best started the service in July. She’ll shop and deliver food in Kohala and Kona, at any grocery store or even farmers markets. Customers can pre-order up to seven days in advance. Typically, customers email her through the national website or call her directly with a list of items they would like. Best contacts them, confirms the list and the delivery time.

Right now, she said she is making two to three deliveries daily and she is willing to work seven days a week. She doesn’t limit the pickups or deliveries to groceries, but can also pick up pharmacy items, food from a restaurant, flowers or any number of items.

Wegoshop.com is in discussion with some people in East Hawaii, too, about offering the service there. The company’s website lists locations across the United States, in Canada and the Bahamas. It was founded in 1999.

The island, as its nickname acknowledges, is big, Best said. Her service might take a few cars off the road a few days a week and save people extra trips up or down the coast, or even in to Waimea or Kailua-Kona from nearby neighborhoods.

“The goal is to make this a service for the community,” she said. She can “free up their time to enjoy their family.”

For her part, she enjoys her trips “up and down the hill” from her North Kohala home to the stores and clients in other areas.

She hops in her car, maybe turns on some music, an audio book or language lessons.

“It’s so beautiful,” Best said. “I have my ice chest in the back, just enjoying the moment. It’s a great view. I’m just cruising along.”

Her clients get some enjoyment out of it, too.

“It’s just a really great thing to make people happy,” she said. “I just love it.”