Overdue Idea: The Mobile Convenience Store

THE ISSUE: Weekenddinner party and you’re playing chef. A good meal is a symphony, and you’ve got all the sections in tune. Meat marinating, sweet potatoes seasoned, veggies ready to go in the steamer (at the last minute of course; overcook the veg and you might as well serve it out of a can). The kids are banished to the basement to watch Despicable Me for the fifteenth time.

Less than an hour to go and the table is set. You reach for the cream to make the sauce for the tenderloin and come up with an empty carton. You look in vain for a backup. Nothing. Will milk substitute? Of course not! And you’ve got pots bubbling and onions caramelizing. You can’t leave this.

Sauce abandoned, you’ll be serving naked steak. The symphony is starting decidedly off key.

THE VICTIMS: We’ve pretty much closed the loop on convenience, what with buying almost everything online, and having big box or bulk stores for the rest. But there’s that one gap: the last minute run that comes at the worst time.

If you’re able, you make the frantic rush, maybe popping up at the convenience store in your pajamas. Or maybe you try to think you way out of it (Can I MAKE pancake syrup?)

But sometimes you’re out of options, and there’s that one thing you need and no way to get it.

THE FIX: It would be great if convenience stores delivered, but it’s tough to imagine the guy at the corner running a fleet of cars. Maybe we can make the fleet ourselves.

The mobile convenience store would be an app that connects a network of willing drivers, cyclists, or otherwise mobile couriers, providing instantly available gofers for milk, bread, juniper berries, what have you.

You’d punch your order into the app, and nearby drivers would be contacted with the job. You’d have your credit card info already in the system, and when the driver picks up the stuff, he’d scan the receipt. There’d be a fee, of course, (and a tip?) but when you’re one step from the dinner from heaven, you’re going to pay what you have to to get those onions your forgot.

If you’re thinking this sounds like Uber, but with groceries instead of people, you’re right. In fact, the Uberites out there trolling around in the holding pattern would be the perfect candidates to do this. But anyone with a car or bike and some time flexibility could be on the system. If the network is strong enough, deliveries could happen in minutes.

And it goes beyond frantic chefs. Imagine not having to try to make that chip and dip run during the first period intermission (and skipping the rock-paper-scissors match to see who goes). Or being able to actually have some good ingredients for that lunch you’re making while you’re stuck at home telecommuting.

Maybe the guy could even pick up a pizza for you while he’s at it. Oh, wait…