Los Angeles, Nov. 20, 2008 – Pink Dot has to be prepared.
Drivers for the Los Angeles-based delivery grocery service need to be ready to head out into the California hills in the blink of an eye, armed with food, beverages and even prepared meals designed to satisfy the needs of customers all over Southern California. With two locations and nearly 500 deliveries a day, Pink Dot owner Sol Yamini needs a vehicle that’s up to the challenge.
Enter Ford’s Transit Connect. With a cargo capacity of 143 cubic feet, compact maneuverability and efficient 19 mpg city/24 mpg highway, it can deliver exactly what this upscale business needs. Plus, with its long wheelbase, high roof, rear barn door with 250-degree hinge and second-row dual sliding doors, it makes loading even the bulkiest deliveries a snap.
That’s good news for Pink Dot. “I think it’s ideal for a company like mine,,” said Yamini, 30, who purchased the business five years ago. “It’s got great space, great maneuverability, and you can customize it to meet your needs. I could see having a fleet of five or even 10 of these.”
A former Pink Dot customer, Yamini knows that the ringing telephone can bring an order of anything and everything. A party order of $4,000 worth of libations and ice? No problem. Three hundred containers of cottage cheese? Sure thing.
Because Pink Dot offers a wealth of groceries, deli sandwiches and personal care items with a $15 minimum and a $3.50 delivery fee, the approximately 100 employees know delivery challenges will vary from day to day.
“This is like room service for your home,” Yamini said. “We can cater your party or bring you a carton of cigarettes and a cup of coffee.”
Customer service is paramount for the company, which also handles catering and food delivery for a variety of Hollywood studios and more than 2,000 businesses annually in Southern California.
“We love our customers,” Yamini said. “Really, our drivers have seen everything. We even had a customer order a roll of toilet paper – we had to go to the side of the house and deliver it through the window.”
With so many people counting on his deliveries, Yamini needs vehicles that are reliable – like the Transit Connect. And with its standard roll stability control, driver and front passenger air bags as well as side impact air bags and collapsible steering column, the Transit Connect can give his drivers even more confidence on the roads.
A Transit Connect customized for Pink Dot will be on display at the Los Angeles International Auto Show, slated for Nov. 21-30 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. For the occasion, Ford representatives will be giving away more than 500 special “Promise” blend packages of pink and white M&Ms; 10 percent of the original purchase price will go toward Susan B. Komen for the Cure breast cancer research organization.
The 15-year-old Pink Dot is a bit of a legend in the L.A. area; the business has been featured on television shows including “Entourage,” and written up in variety of newspapers and magazines. While the company caters to both celebrities and working folks, the enjoyment of serving the public runs across the board for Yamini.
“We meet a lot of great people,” he said. “I love the fact that we can be there for so many of them.”
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About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 229,000 employees and about 90 plants worldwide, the company’s core and affiliated automotive brands include Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo and Mazda. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford’s products, please visit www.ford.com.