The Grocery Girls Story began in the 1990’s when Melinda Bartling volunteered to shop for the home bound through an organization called Shepherd’s Center. She was quickly promoted to be their volunteer Grocery Shopping Coordinator, matching grocery shoppers with home bound clients.
Melinda’s first shopping assignment with Shepherd’s Center was shopping for an elderly and frail little lady named Leona who lived in downtown Overland Park. Melinda shopped for her every week for years, delivering her groceries, putting them away and sitting with Leona in her kitchen discussing life.
Little did Melinda know her experience with Leona would become part of the Grocery Girls Story. Melinda knew she was helping someone that desperately needed her services.
Prior to her Shepherd’s Center experience, Melinda and her mother owned an Antiques Shop and Tea Room in Overland Park at Louisburg Square. Melinda shopped for the freshest food every morning to serve to her ladies who came in everyday to have lunch with their best girl friends.
Truth is, Melinda loves grocery shopping. And along the way she learned, some people don’t like grocery shopping at all. Her friends on Facebook would complain about having to go to the grocery store. Why…she would ask?
She got answers like, “I have 3 kids and 2 jobs, I get overwhelmed and don’t make the right choices, I always go when I’m hungry and everything is a temptation and never come home with what I went after.”
As a result, these people are Grocery Girls best customers and part of the Grocery Girls Story.
Who we Serve:
Grocery Girls serve people who are:
- frustrated with Instacart or their favorite local store because they aren’t receiving half of what they ordered or they receive the wrong things
- too busy to shop for themselves
- overwhelmed by all the choices
- stuck at home with too many kids to drag to the store
- dealing with health problems and it’s hard for them to shop
- tempted by all the distractions at the grocery store and don’t stick to their list
- people who shop without a list
- buying too much junk and not enough healthy food
- having a hard time carrying heavy groceries or
- grocery shopping haters
Sometimes it’s all just too overwhelming. Now with the one way aisles in so many stores, having to wait in line to even get into the store and then not finding what you want is so exasperating.
Not to Grocery Girls. We love grocery shopping!
What’s the alternative to hating to grocery shop? You have 2 options. You can order your groceries online and pick them up at some date in the far off future or you can place your order at the store of your choice and have them delivered.
What about Instacart?
That seems like a viable solution to all this grocery shopping nonsense. You sit in your recliner on your ipad, order your groceries and then an Instacart shopper snatches up the order and starts shopping.
In case you didn’t know, Instacart is the online grocery shopping and delivery service that partners with stores and then has their Instacart shoppers shop and deliver your groceries to you.
So, you sit at home, order through the store’s website and life is good. The biggest problem is their average markup is about 25% over the store prices. Remember, Instacart and the stores have a relationship. They both have to win or there is no game. For example, your $4.99 rotisserie chicken at Costco rings up $6.09 on Instacart.
In addition, Instacart adds on a delivery fee and then there’s a tip for the shopper. The second biggest problem is the store where you placed your order is out of half the stuff on your list. So the shopper lets you know and you can sometimes substitute if the store has a substitution. But if the store is out of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup, they are probably out of all Cream of Mushroom Soup.
Oftentimes, at the end of your order, you’ve received half of what you wanted. So, then you place another order with another store, (after all you already paid the yearly fee to Instacart) and it starts all over again.
You could have a great Instacart experience but many people have told us it was a horrible one. Instacart shoppers are people who have a car and a phone and are trying to make a buck. They may not know anything about grocery shopping and they don’t really care if your apples are bruised.
Grocery Girls are professional grocery shoppers.
Or You Can Pick up Your Order???
So, the other option is to order directly through the store’s website instead and pick your order up. That sounds like a better solution anyway.
Unfortunately, the grocery stores are overwhelmed with demand of pick up orders. They don’t have enough people to stock the shelves, shoppers to shop your order, baggers to bag your orders and keep track of the order until it’s time for your pickup.
You show up at the store usually inappropriately dressed, only to discover no one knows anything about your order. You find yourself going into the store after waiting patiently in your car for 30 minutes to no avail. Employees are running around searching for your paperwork and then your grocery order.
Has it even been shopped yet? They apologize profusely and immediately send a shopper to shop your order. You get home and realize you didn’t get your chips!
People are frustrated. We understand why. We’ve been through all of these experiences ourselves. And nothing makes you more upset than not getting what you were craving for dinner!
Or the Store Can Use a Delivery Service
That sounds like another feasible option but at the end of the day, if the store doesn’t have the groceries, you’re going to have an incomplete order. There are also rumors – these are rumors – but we’ve heard the word on the street is some of these delivery drivers are taking some of the food out of your order.
So when your shrimp is missing, who do you call? You let the store know you paid $27 for some shrimp you didn’t receive and you want a refund plus your shrimp! The store doesn’t know if they missed it or if the driver took it.
Grocery Girls Knows There is a Better Way
At Grocery Girls, we take full responsibility for your order. It’s another part of the Grocery Girls Story. We don’t have other people shopping your order and don’t partner with the stores or have an app. You make a grocery list…like people used to do. You probably buy the same things every week or at least on a regular basis – give or take a few things.
Create your master list and as you think of things, add to it. Then when it’s time to plan your meals and create your list, you can do that from your master list.
Then email us your list at groceries@grocerygirlskc.com. We will do your shopping for you. More than likely, we will start at your preferred store but we will probably have to go to more than one store to complete your list. We love Sprouts for produce and then go to Price Chopper, Hen House, Hyvee or Aldi for your staples. Or maybe you like Whole Foods. We may shop there plus Natural Grocers for you. It’s your order, just let us know where you would like us to shop. You have a choice of a 2 store limit.
We have a large clientele of people who like Natural Grocers and Whole Foods. We also shop for many customers who need gluten free products. As professional grocery shoppers, we understand the importance in shopping for organic and gluten free products.
With Instacart or store pickup, you get what that store has. If you choose store delivery, you get what you get. With Grocery Girls, you get what is on your list. It’s all part of the Grocery Girls Story – it’s the difference between us and your other options.
You reimburse us from your total receipts, plus 20% (10% for shopping and 10% for delivery) and you tip your Grocery Girl.
We Know the Best Stores
Grocery Girls are in the grocery stores all day every day. We want to earn your grocery shopping business so we will do everything in our power to make sure you have the freshest of everything that store has to offer. And if you want romaine lettuce and the lettuce looks like crap where we are, we will let you know and try to find it elsewhere.
We shop enough so we know which checkers are the fastest as well as know which stores have the best selections of the freshest produce, seafood and meats.
And now we know which aisles are which direction. It’s like driving in downtown Kansas City. LOL! When we run into a store looking for hot dog buns, we have to know which route to take to get to the bread aisle the fastest.
How Grocery Girls is Different
At Grocery Girls, we shop for you on a regular basis. As a VIP customer, you have your very own personal shopper. She knows what you like and when you order apples, she knows you mean Gala because your husband doesn’t like Red Delicious. She knows you want organic Kale and non organic green beans.
We let you know when we’ll be shopping and ask that you be available by phone or text because we will typically have questions.
Our VIP Customers
For example, we had a new lady sign up to come on board the other day as a VIP customer. She wanted us to shop at a certain store for her organics. I said we hadn’t had much luck finding any stock and told her we would be glad to drive a little further where we knew we could find the organic produce she wanted. She was thrilled!
You learn alot about people from their grocery lists. One of our VIP customers list indicated he was probably going to make chili. Trouble was, there were no canned tomatoes or chili beans at the store where he sent us to shop. He also requested a specific brand and type of bread. We knew that store hadn’t had bread for 2 days. His Grocery Girl went to another store and found his bread, beans and tomatoes. He was so appreciative, he tipped her $20.
That’s what makes up the Grocery Girls Story and different than any other option.
Grocery Girls Care
As Grocery Girls, we truly care about the food we select for you, like hand picking each green bean and inspecting it. The Instacart shopper will grab them by the handful or the pre-bagged version. We know how they are, we shop alongside them everyday.
Not everyone can be a Grocery Girl. She must be very detail oriented, well organized, able to multi-task, have a positive attitude, as well as great customer service skills, move quickly, know the stores and most of all – LOVE GROCERY SHOPPING!
So, if you care about receiving the groceries you want, give Grocery Girls a try. Remember, your order is a flat 20% of your total receipts (10% for shopping and 10% for delivery) plus you tip your Grocery Girl.
We know that Mama ain’t gonna be happy if we don’t get her Cheezits and we understand! Nobody’s happy if Mama ain’t happy! Grocery Girls delivers. It’s the Grocery Girls peace of mind pledge.
With the other options you have available, you might need to get dressed and get to the store. It could be a long week without your favorite foods in the house! Grocery Girls will come to your rescue.
Ready to experience the Grocery Girls difference?
In conclusion, we know you have choices when it comes to having your groceries shopped for and delivered. Call or text us at (913) 515-3250 with any questions, or send your grocery list to groceries@grocerygirlskc.com or contact us here.
We love grocery shopping and look forward to shopping for you!
~Melinda Bartling