Delivery Diner extends restaurants' reach

When Wendy Goldberg launched Delivery Diner in Reno in 1996, she figured she had outside shot at becoming a millionaire.

Seven years later, she's happy merely to have survived and built a business that supports her and allows her to make a contribution to the community.

"It's been the hardest thing I've ever done," Goldberg said over a cup of coffee a few days ago.

"It's not a gold mine, but it keeps us going."

The business is simplicity itself: Delivery Diner distributes 45,000 copies of menus from about 40 restaurants.

Customers place an order by phone, one of Delivery Diners' 17 drivers picks up the meal and it's delivered in less than an hour.

The company buys meals at a small discount from restaurants and charges customers full price.

In addition, customers pay a delivery charge of $3.99 to $5.99, depending on distance.

On a one good night, Delivery Diner will handle 50 to 60 orders.

On a bad night which isn't that common any more the phone doesn't ring at all, and the six folks who work in the company's office go home early.

Goldberg has gotten pretty good at scraping out a buck here and there to keep the business afloat.

Advertising, for example, helps pay the cost of distributing the 40-page book of menus.

But the sale of advertising becomes one more thing for Goldberg to do.

She negotiates with restaurants.

She buys the thermal packs that keep food warm until it's delivered.

She handles some of the incoming calls.

And, if a delivery guy doesn't make it, she fills in.

"I work all the time," Goldberg said.

A recent short vacation to Alaska marked her first time away from the business in years.

It doesn't help that lousy weather is the best friend of a delivery service.

"Extreme weather is always the best cold and dark," Goldberg said.

"But hot weather is pretty good, too."

So why does she do it? For starters, the business has been growing by 30 percent or more a year enough to hold out hope in the early days when Goldberg was barely holding on.

Goldberg is fond, too, of the relationships she's built throughout the community as a result of her business.

"I'm proud of my company and what I've built," she said.

And she knows similar services thrive elsewhere.

A native of Dallas, Goldberg launched Delivery Diner in Reno after seeing successful operations in Texas.

Her customers range from companies that want a delivery of a lunch for 25 to families who don't want to cook dinner and don't have the energy to go to a restaurant.

"Pretty much everyone is our customer," she said.

"Everyone needs to eat."

But it's taken a while to get the word out to those hungry customers.

She started with four restaurants and a cell phone "That's an insane way to start a business," Goldberg said and grew the business from there.

Along the way, she outlasted a couple of competitors and overcame the bad reputation that some delivery firms developed with restaurants for their failure to pay for the meals they delivered.

Goldberg's pitch to restaurants? Her customers won't be going out to eat anyway, and the delivery service is a way to extend a restaurant's reach without adding tables or staff.

The company is profitable these days, and Goldberg is considering an expansion into nearby communities.

On the other hand, she nurtures a hope that someone might come along and offer to buy the business.

A potential buyer needs to be aware, however, of some strange customers.

Like the guy who ordered a delivery to a park bench, providing the address of a nearby home and whistling the driver over.

"You get some special people calling," Goldberg said with a laugh.

"Reno is a real unique place."