U.S. Postal Service, FedEx Have New Competition…from Waffle House

[FLPanhandle]

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2015/02/24/US-Postal-Service-FedEx-Have-New-Competition-Waffle-House

If there’s one thing the sharing economy needed more of, it’s waffles. Now it’s getting them.

Waffle House, the breakfast food chain with more than 1,750 locations in 25 states, has announced a new partnership with a small app-based delivery startup called Roadie, which is looking to become the Uber of package delivery.

Roadie says its app “connects people with items to send with drivers who are already heading in the right direction.”

“Think of us as the first neighbor-to-neighbor shipping network,” Roadie’s website reads. “We’re building a faster, cheaper, friendlier way to get your stuff where it’s going.”


Waffle House’s 24-hour diners will serve as part of a network of meeting points for those senders and drivers, or drivers and package recipients — putting the restaurant chain firmly in the territory of FedEx, UPS and the U.S. Postal Service. Roadie drivers can get a free waffle for downloading the app and a free drink when they make a delivery (plus 80 percent of the fee Roadie gets, which reportedly will range from $12 to $200).

Roadie just launched in the Southeast last month, and it’s gotten $10 million in early investments from backers like Warren Stephens of Stephens Inc., Guggenheim Partners’ Executive Chairman Alan Schwartz, Square Co-founder Jim McKelvey, Eric Schmidt’s TomorrowVentures and even the UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund. (Yes, UPS, which dropped its memorable “What can Brown do for you?” campaign several years ago, is now asking what apps and waffles can do for you.) For now, though, the app has only been downloaded about 7,500 times, according to The Wall Street Journal, and Roadie drivers have only been asked to deliver about 50 items.



Will Waffle House "uber" the Postal Service and UPS, etc.

[onehandle]

1. Waffle House. Owned by staunch Republicans.

http://www.followthemoney.org/entity-details?eid=2768

[upaloopa]

2. Not sure I want to trust my shipment to someone

motivated by eating waffles

[FSogol]

3. Will my package be sticky like every surface in their restaurant?

[Fumesucker]

4. Scattered, smothered and covered...

[rickford66]

5. Ever eat at one?

Awful. Give me any greasy spoon instead.

[Aristus]

6. Give my package to someone with no specialized training?

Who is not bound by federal privacy regulations? Compensated with a respectable salary?

Sorry, I'm not trusting any Waffle House futz with any sort of delivery. Anyone who gets ripped off by these clowns deserves what he gets...

[FLPanhandle]

8. The same thing was said about Uber though

No licensed drivers? No experience? However, Uber has been a big hit.

I can see this working out.

[Travis_0004]

11. I can see it being sucessful

Im not so sure you need specalized training to deliver a package.

[Aristus]

13. Demonstrated competency sure can't hurt.

n/t

[Thor_MN]

7. Not sure I want anything shipped by a series of meetups in a Waffle House parking lot...

In fact, I don't want anything that results from a meeting in a Waffle House parking lot.

[underpants]

9. "...just imagine a gas station bathroom that sells waffles. You've been to a Waffle House"

Now, if you’ve never been to a Waffle House, just imagine a gas station bathroom that sells waffles. You’ve been to a Waffle House.

I love Waffle House, and not just ’cause watching someone fry an egg while they’re smoking reminds me of my dad.

Eh, that’s where I want to go at two a.m.. That’s where everyone goes. Their slogan should be: “It’s two a.m., still time to make one more bad decision.”

Jim Gaffigan

[Ruby the Liberal]

10. Driver, is there insurance on sending this $2k diamond ring I just sold on eBay?

Thanks for your convenient pickup! Have a great day!

[Hestia]

12. Warren Stephens - personally responsible for Ark. still being a "plantation"...

along with the other men who share his CC table each week.

Plantation = just plain ol' tired people - tired of no money, tired of walking, tired of being hungry, just tired...

Roadie just launched in the Southeast last month, and it’s gotten $10 million in early investments from backers like Warren Stephens of Stephens Inc., Guggenheim Partners’ Executive Chairman Alan Schwartz, Square Co-founder Jim McKelvey, Eric Schmidt’s TomorrowVentures and even the UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund. (Yes, UPS, which dropped its memorable “What can Brown do for you?” campaign several years ago, is now asking what apps and waffles can do for you.) For now, though, the app has only been downloaded about 7,500 times, according to The Wall Street Journal, and Roadie drivers have only been asked to deliver about 50 items.