The team behind Ivy and Coney had been using Grubhub for about six months when the coronavirus pandemic shut down much of D.C. Before, the fees the app charged were high, but the deliveries were still a nice supplement to their majority dine-in business.
When they could no longer serve customers inside the Shaw bar, though, between the cost and the unpredictability of dealing with a big company based outside D.C., Grubhub became impractical.
“Once delivery and pick-up became our primary model, our first week of dealing with Grubhub, it was immediately apparent that we weren’t going to be able to survive under that model,” says co-owner Chris Powers.
So they decided to create an alternative. This week, Powers and other Ivy and Coney co-owners Adam Fry and Josh Saltzman are rolling out their own online takeout and delivery platform, D.C. To-GoGo. Washington City Paper first reported the news.
Unlike apps like Grubhub, Postmates, and Uber Eats, which charge up to 30 percent in commission, the app collects between five and 15 percent in administrative fees per order.
Shaw Main Streets, a non-profit organization working to revitalize the neighborhood’s commercial corridors, which is funded in part by the D.C. government, gave the guys a $10,000 grant to help finance the platform, half of which will go toward promotion.
Alex Padro, the executive director of Shaw Main Streets, saw it as an opportunity to help many local businesses at once, rather than making a lot of small individual contributions.
“Those tiny little checks wouldn’t really amount to much in terms of trying to save a business,” he says. “We thought that a strategic investment in helping businesses keep more of every dollar sold through takeout and delivery made a lot of sense.”
Initially, the app will feature Shaw restaurants, including Ivy and Coney on 7th St. Northwest, before expanding into other parts of D.C. So far, participants including Pizza D’Oro, fish burger joint FishScale, and gastropub Shaw’s Tavern are already available through the platform.
Any local restaurant can sign up, and can choose from three membership levels. The first provides restaurants looking to offer pick-up with an online ordering and payment system, and D.C. To-GoGo charges a five percent fee from restaurants for each order.
The second tier adds a delivery option at a 10 percent fee, but requires restaurants to hire their own drivers. The Ivy and Coney team hopes they will use the opportunity to rehire workers who have been laid off. The third option, which will be available in the coming weeks, though Powers and Fry declined to name an exact date, will make D.C. To-GoGo’s fleet of trained delivery drivers available to restaurants. For that, the platform will charge 15 percent.
Powers wants to bring the same quality of service customers can expect at Ivy and Coney to the app, including with regard to how drivers are treated. He says D.C. To-GoGo’s couriers will make $18 an hour and keep all their tips. They’re asking restaurants who hire their own drivers to adhere to the same standards.
Even before the crisis, some restaurants saw third-party apps as a “necessary evil,” providing customers with convenience at a steep cost for businesses. Now, with revenue way down, that cost is more than many restaurants can afford.
Last week, the D.C. Council passed emergency legislation mandating that third-party delivery apps lower their fees for restaurants during the pandemic, capping them at 15 percent. The legislation also barred companies from recouping lost revenue from delivery drivers’ pay.
DoorDash, Grubhub, Postmates, and Uber Eats sent a letter to Chairman Phil Mendelson opposing the measure, arguing that it would make deliveries more expensive, rob restaurants of income, and get rid of “earning opportunities for thousands of residents.”
D.C. To-GoGo presents local restaurants with an alternative. Fry hopes the platform helps stimulate the local food scene, and the team plans to keep it going even after the crisis has subsided. “We want to see restaurants thrive,” he says.