Companies Team Up To Deliver Christmas Trees To Your Door
NORTH TEXAS (CBS 11 NEWS) - Ever suddenly decide you want a live Christmas tree delivered to your front door... in just minutes? Smartphone technology is making it happen across North Texas -- but for one day only!
Two companies are teaming up to deliver Christmas trees to homes and residences.
James McGilberry, with the Home Depot on Skillman Street in Dallas, said some customers like having the real thing. "They love live trees; the smell the ambiance, the tradition. That's the main thing about a live tree."
And the extremely tech-savvy can get a tree in minutes. It's possible because of a joint venture between Home Depot and Uber, the new on-demand ride company that usually deals in black town cars or SUVs.
This time its on-demand Christmas trees, according to Uber's Nicole Tremblay. "Usually when you use the app you request a car -- like a black town car or SUV. Today a little tree icon will pop up and you can request a tree and have a tree delivered to you, netted, with a stand and some cool Uber swag as well."
The companies strategically placed six trucks across the area. At the appointed starting time, 11 a.m., Uber got orders in mere seconds. The first customer's tree arrived within 20-minutes. He tracked its progress from home. The delivery team got no down time, as another order came in immediately.
Robin Reedy showed CBS 11 News how the system worked. "Now we go online and we just wait for someone else to… so now we'll just click it and we have our next person," she said as she jumped into the delivery truck.
None of the deliveries were pre-arranged. Customers waited until the app opened on their phones, then ordered.
Home Depot's McGilberry says there is demand for the service. "Bad weather, people are too busy in this day and age to want to get out itself, it's becoming possibly the modern way to get goods and products for your house."
But everything has a cost, right? The fee to have a tree delivered - $135. At press time there were some 100 trees ready to go. Uber's Tremblay word spread quickly about their offer. "Yeah, people are really excited about it. We've created some buzz on social media and through the blog and the e-mail systems so people know what's going on and it's a great way to kick off the holiday season."
But all things must come to an end, the Christmas tree delivery ends at 8 p.m. Thursday or when Home Depot runs out of trees.
(©2013 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Latest News:
Top Trending:
- Before Drug Sentencing Former Cowboy Sends Letter To CBS 11
- 4th Abduction Attempt In Tarrant County
- Evacuations In Milford After Natural Gas Pipeline Explosion
- Witnesses Watch 2 Lions Kill Lioness At Dallas Zoo
- Safety Institute Suggests Booster Seats Until Age 12
- PHOTOS: Your Pet Pictures
