Reading Terminal Market Launches Delivery Service with Instacart

Reading Terminal Market today announced it will begin providing delivery of produce and grocery items through its partnership with Instacart (www.Instacart.com), beginning on Tuesday, November 11, 2014, Instacart, the only service that can deliver groceries from multiple local stores within an hour, will provide delivery of produce and grocery items from 32 participating merchants located in Reading Terminal Market.

“Since announcing the partnership with Instacart in September, we have received a tremendous response from our merchants and customers who are interested in participating in this remarkable service,” said Paul Steinke, General Manager of Reading Terminal Market. “We believe this service will be a time-saving tool for many shoppers who, due to their busy schedule, geographic location, lack of transportation or other circumstances, may not be able to get to Reading Terminal Market as often as they wish. We are excited to finally launch the delivery service in time for the busy holiday shopping season.”

During the first phase of the program, offerings will be limited to shelf stable and non-customized, refrigerated products such as pre-packaged grocery items, fresh produce and bakery goods. A second phase of the program to be launched at a later time will include customized food products, such as cooked foods and sandwiches. Among the participants for phase one are:

*12th Street Cantina

Amy’s Place

Bassetts Ice Cream

Bee Natural

Border Springs Farm Lamb

*By George! Pizza, Pasta & Cheesesteaks

Chocolate By Mueller

Downtown Cheese

Fair Food Farmstand

Famous 4th Street Cookie Company

Flying Monkey Bakery

Giunta’s Prime Shop

Godshall’s Poultry

Golden Fish Market

Herbiary

*Hershel’s East Side Deli

Iovine Brothers Produce

John Yi Fish Market

Jonathan Best Gourmet Grocer

Market Bakery

Metropolitan Bakery

*Nanee’s Kitchen

Old City Coffee

Pennsylvania General Store

Salumeria

Tea Leaf

Termini Brothers Bakery

Terralyn – Bath, Body, Spirit

The Tubby Olive

Valley Shepherd Creamery

Wan’s Seafood

*Wursthaus Schmitz

*Excluding customized, cooked foods

“We’re looking forward to getting started, and are thrilled that so many merchants have decided to participate in the first phase of this roll out,” said Instacart Philadelphia City Manager George Shotz. “Reading Terminal Market is the place to go in Philadelphia for the freshest variety of products – we’re happy to now be able to bring the Market right to our customers’ front door.”

Reading Terminal Market customers interested in using Instacart must be located in the company’s designated Philadelphia Zone, which includes most of the city proper and also reaches far into the Main Line, Upper Darby, and part of Montgomery County.

Originally launched in San Francisco and since expanded into many other major cities, Instacart has disrupted the traditional grocery delivery space with its crowd sourced labor force dubbed “Personal Shoppers” who shop for and deliver grocery orders providing their own transportation in as little as one hour. This eliminates the need for costly infrastructure such as inventory, warehouses, trucks and full-time drivers.

Any customer can open an account at www.Instacart.com, and get free delivery on their first order of $10 or more. For frequent customers, Instacart offers an Amazon-Prime like service called Instacart Express – an annual membership that eliminates delivery fees for all orders of $35 or more. The cost is just $99. Customers can sign up for a free two-week trial at www.instacart.com/express.

About Instacart
Instacart is the only service that can deliver groceries on demand from multiple stores within an hour. Founded in San Francisco, Instacart is now available in major cities across the US, delivering from both local grocery stores and national chains such as Whole Foods Market, Safeway, Shaw’s, BJ’s Wholesale and Costco. Using an innovative crowdsourced approach, Instacart relies on a pool of thousands of trained Personal Shoppers who empower stores to deliver groceries to customers in a fast and cost-effective way. Learn more at www.Instacart.com.

About Reading Terminal Market

One of America’s largest and oldest public markets, the Reading Terminal Market serves as a public trust providing a venue for independent local businesses to showcase the Philadelphia region’s culinary bounty and cultural diversity. Housed since 1892 in a National Historic Landmark building, the Market offers an incredible selection of farm fresh produce, meats and poultry, plus the finest seafood, cheeses, baked goods, confections, flowers, kitchenware, cookbooks, jewelry and crafts. The Market is managed by a not-for-profit management company as a tenant of the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority, which has owned the historic Reading Terminal since 1990. In 2014, the American Planning Association named Reading Terminal Market as one of the 10 Great Public Spaces in America.