Northwest Indiana Grocery Shoppers Excited to See Curbside Pickup Service From Instacart and Strack & Van Til Expand

Strack-Instacart-09-02-2016Locally owned SVT LLC, who operates the grocery stores Strack & Van Til, Ultra Foods and Town & Country Markets, is rapidly expanding online ordering for curbside pickup to the residents of Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland. In partnership with Instacart, the fast-growing retail delivery service, Strack & Van Til has been testing online ordering for Curbside grocery pickup in the company’s Schererville, IN store. The service has been so well received that SVT LLC is now extending Curbside pickup to eight (8) more stores.

Customers who live, work and shop in the following communities now have the convenience to order their groceries online and schedule a curbside pickup:

  • Strack & Van Til locations: Schererville, Chesterton, Crown Point and Cedar Lake.
  • Ultra Foods locations: Downers Grove, Wheaton, Highland and Joliet.
  • Town & Country location: Valparaiso

Customers who choose to shop Strack & Van Til, Ultra Foods or Town & Country market on Instacart will have their orders picked, packed, and checked out by a store employees trained to meet Instacart’s strict standards for quality and excellence. Orders will then be brought out to curbside pickup at times scheduled by customers.

“Convenience is an important aspect of grocery shopping for many customers,” said Jeff Strack, CEO for the Strack and Van Til, Ultra Foods and Town & Country Market stores. “Being able to provide our customers the option to order groceries online and enjoy curbside pickup helps make a trip to the grocery store a little faster and easier. Best of all the service is very affordable. Instacart has a minimum order size of $10 and the fee for curbside pickup is just $1.99 for orders over $35 and $5.99 for orders between $10 and $34.99.”

Dave Osborne, General Manager for the Midwest markets at Instacart wants shoppers in Northwest Indiana and Chicago to try the service. “We want to make it easy for customers to discover the convenience of online ordering for scheduled pickup at their local Strack & Van Til, Ultra Foods or Town & Country Market. New customers can open an account at www.Instacart.com. And the first pickup is FREE. We are also offering a $10 reward to Instacart users who refer a family member, friend or colleague to the curbside pickup service that will be credited to customer accounts once the person they have referred completes their first order.”

With the expanded curbside pickup in eight stores and delivery service in two stores SVT is seeing their partnership with Instacart provide convenience and value to customers. In the coming months SVT plans to fully rollout Instacart service to all stores.

How Instacart Pickup works: Customers go online to www.Instacart.com or open the Instacart mobile app on their iPhone or Android device, select their city/store, add items to a virtual cart, and then choose an available pickup window and check out. A Personal Shopper from Strack & Van Til, Ultra Foods or Town & Country Market, depending on which store you order from, accepts the order on a smartphone, uses the Instacart Shopper app to guide them through shopping, and then packs and stages the order for the customer to pickup at their scheduled time. Customers can visit https://www.instacart.com/faq for more information.

About Instacart
Instacart allows people to order groceries online by connecting them with personal shoppers who hand pick items at customers’ local, favorite stores and deliver straight to their doors. Founded in San Francisco in 2012, Instacart has quickly scaled to 26 metropolitan areas across the U.S. and partnered with dozens of grocery retailers, including popular national chains as well as local, regional grocers. By combining a personal touch with cutting-edge technology, Instacart offers customers a simple solution to save time and eat fresh food from the grocery brands they trust. While Instacart is mainly known for their ability to deliver groceries in as little as one hour, the company is also providing curbside pickup in locations where delivery service is not currently available. For more information, please contact press@instacart.com.

About SVT LLC
Founded in 1960 SVT LLC is a grocery retailer focused on providing high-quality products in a unique and inviting atmosphere with a high level of customer service. The company currently operates 37 stores in 2 states (Illinois and Indiana) under the banner names Strack and Van Til, Ultra Foods and Town and Country Market. SVT is an equal opportunity employer. For more information about the company, please contact Chris Bengtson, Vice President of Public Relations at 219-237-5027 or by email at BengtsonC@s-vt.com.