Riley Eubanks
The State Journal-Register
Another grocery delivery service will soon launch in Springfield.
Gopuff will launch in Springfield in the near future, according to a lawyer representing the company. The operation will be based on MacArthur Boulevard and add another grocery delivery option for residents.
”They’re really eager to get started,” said Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin. Gopuff will be based in McMenamin’s ward.
”It’s real good to see them occupy what was an empty space in that building at MacArthur,” he said, referencing the currently vacant site at 1614 S. MacArthur Blvd. that Gopuff is moving into. The site still bears the branding of a long-closed Family Video store.
Construction is already underway inside of Gopuff’s leased operation, which is next door to a Little Caesars, and brush has already been cleared from the surrounding area.
Gopuff, based in Philadelphia, did not immediately respond to multiple interview requests this week. The service will be able to deliver alcohol after a zoning ordinance was introduced by McMenamin and passed prior to Tuesday’s Springfield City Council meeting.
One consistency McMenamin wanted to see was the prohibition of delivering small bottles of liquor, which isn’t allowed at other convenience stores along MacArthur Boulevard and elsewhere in the city, he said.
He introduced a clause prohibiting Gopuff from delivering bottles of liquor that are small and contain about 50 milliliters of alcohol during the zoning hearing. Those small bottles, also known as nips, shooters or minis, are problematic because of their portability and tendency to end up littered in yards, McMenamin said.
”I’d be in favor of restricting small bottle sales everywhere in Springfield,” McMenamin said, adding that any ordinance restricting those bottles would require input from the city’s Office of Corporation Counsel.
Regardless, Gopuff will be allowed to deliver groceries, beer and both large and small bottles of liquor whenever it launches. Alcohol delivery in Springfield is already available through Instacart, a San Francisco-based grocery delivery service, and in-house delivery service offered from various grocery chains.
Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 