Iowa City Downtown District introduces free delivery service for downtown retailers

IOWA CITY - Comic books, jewelry, records, clothing and countless other items from downtown Iowa City businesses are now more accessible thanks to a free delivery service launched by the Iowa City Downtown District.

Through the end of the year, Downtown District staff will be delivering items purchased online from 33 downtown soft-goods retailers to the Iowa City area and Cedar Rapids.

The free service kicked off Sept. 7.

'Many of our retailers were doing free local delivery on their own,” Betsy Potter, director of creative services for the district, said in a statement.

'When one retailer came to us to ask for help as they were trying to do shipping, online, delivery and open up their storefront, we knew that consolidating efforts would not only be more efficient, but attract new customers to downtown.”

Since launching a week ago, downtown district employees have made about 50 deliveries, according to a news release.

Potter said officials hope demand for the service to increase as the holiday shopping season approaches.

'We have a great system in our office that will allow us to make up to 300 deliveries a week, if needed,” she said.

When area customers make a purchase through the participating businesses, they can select or request the Downtown Delivery program.

The order then is sent to the Iowa City Downtown District staff and packaged to be picked up and delivered in the next day or two.

Deliveries are being made in a vehicle provided by Toyota of Iowa City.

MidWestOne Bank also is supporting the program, according to the news release.

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