Harps to expand grocery delivery
Harps Food Stores Inc. will expand delivery of online grocery orders to more markets beginning in March, the company said in a news release.
The employee-owned grocery chain based in Springdale began offering the service in select markets last November in conjunction with e-commerce delivery firm Instacart. The company did not name the cities that have the service or are to get it.
Harps has 90 stores throughout Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas, the news release stated. The grocery chain was founded in 1930.
Delivery is available on orders of $10 or more. It costs $5.99 for purchases of $35 or more, and $9.99 for orders of less than $35. Customers can also buy an "express membership" for $149 a year that includes free delivery on orders over $35.
Kroger Co., the nation's largest supermarket chain, also uses Instacart to deliver online grocery orders from stores in the Little Rock area. Walmart Inc. offers the service from stores in the Little Rock metro area and Northwest Arkansas using small delivery firms such as Door-Dash and Postmates.
-- Serenah McKay
LR bureau hires marketing firm
In a bid to attract more leisure and business visitors, the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau has hired an advertising agency of record for the first time in 10 years.
The bureau has relied on ad agencies on specific projects, but with advances in digital advertising, it was time for the bureau to engage outside expertise, spokesman Libby Doss Lloyd said Friday.
The $600,000 one-year contract began Jan. 1 between the city's official destination and marketing organization and Paradise Advertising & Marketing of St. Petersburg, Fla., which specializes in data-driven strategies for tourism and destination marketing. The local partner is Mangan Holcomb Partners of Little Rock.
The relationship could be extended for up to five years if the bureau exercises four one-year renewals, Lloyd said.
Ten firms vied for the contract before the Little Rock Advertising and Promotion Commission approved the agreement last September, she said.
Paradise clients include notable tourism destinations such as Naples and Marco Island, Fla.; The Everglades and Visit Savannah.
"We partnered with Paradise to put Little Rock on the map as a must-see place to visit and stay," said Gretchen Hall, bureau president and chief executive officer.
-- Noel Oman
Index gains 4.49; P.A.M shares rise
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, rose 4.49 to 397.37 Friday.
P.A.M. Transportation shares rose 16 percent in heavy trading.
Total volume for the index on Friday was 14 million shares. The average daily volume for the week was 18.7 million shares.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 01/12/2019