Philadelphia Delivery Services: Our A-to-Z Guide

Babies, Kids and Parents

What: Prescription and over-the-counter medication
From: Fishtown Pharmacy, Fishtown, fishtownpharmacy.com
How to Order: Text, email, phone
Delivery Zone: Within five miles of Fishtown during regular business hours; call for other inquiries.
The Scoop: This pharmacy is a ray of sunshine when you have a sick, crying kid on your hands. They deliver emergency prescriptions like antibiotics plus over-the-counter necessities like baby aspirin to your home, usually within two hours, free of charge.

What: Hospital-grade breast pumps and breastfeeding accessories
From: My Fabulous Mama, Grad Hospital, myfabulousmama.com
How to Order: Phone
Delivery Zones: Center City and South Philly
The Scoop: Because new moms are busy enough, owner Marisa Piccarreto takes her breastfeeding expertise on the road by hand-delivering Medela Symphony pumps and accessories like pumping bras and nipple shields. Delivery is free for concierge-service clients or else $25; pump rental is $85 for one month, $240 for three months, $440 for six months and $780 for 12 months.

What: Caterer-made hot and cold lunches delivered to your kid’s day-care center, school or camp
From: Smart Lunches, smartlunches.com
How to Order: Online
Delivery Zones: Philadelphia, PA suburbs and Princeton area
The Scoop: No more brown-bagging it: Smart Lunches works with your kid’s school to deliver a healthy made-that-day lunch, like a turkey fajita bowl, buffalo chicken whole-wheat wrap or hearty chicken noodle soup. All meals are free of peanuts and tree nuts, and you can specify other restrictions, such as gluten or dairy, and request vegetarian meals. Pricing starts at $5.75 per meal for a monthly subscription service and $6.95 for à la carte ordering.

What: Children’s clothing, shoes, accessories and toys
From: Born Yesterday, Rittenhouse, bornyesterdaykids.com
How to Order: Online, phone
Delivery Zone: Anywhere
The Scoop: The B.Y. Box program is essentially Stitch Fix for kids; a personal shopper handpicks clothes, shoes and toys just for your child, then sends them off (with free shipping). Best part? You only pay for what you keep. Choose your frequency, from just once (great gift idea!) to monthly, bimonthly or every three months. Online options start at $75 a box; call for other inquiries.

Beauty and Grooming

What: Getting your hair done
From: Concihairge, concihairge.com
How to Book: Email, Facebook, phone
Service Areas: West Chester, western Delaware County, Main Line; inquire about other locations.
The Scoop: Owner Stephanie Cleck shows up at your door with her mobile salon. She highlights, cuts, styles or blows out women’s hair, and will trim up the hubby and kids, too. There’s a minimum charge of $50, and travel fees apply; she’ll also do parties.

What: Hair products and a care plan
From: Myavana, myavana.com
How to Order: Online, app
Service Area: Anywhere
The Scoop: Send a sample of your locks to this locally based start-up, and they’ll email back a personalized hair strategy created by chemists and experts, complete with recommended area salons, and send a monthly box with new products to try. Analysis plus plan costs $49; monthly products are $15.

What: Blowouts, curls and updos; makeup and lash application
From: Zyn Beauty, zynbeauty.com
How to Book: Online, phone
Service Area: Philadelphia; call for other inquiries.
The Scoop: Think of the Zyn Beauty team as your personal glam squad: Whether you’re prepping for an event or simply too busy to hit the salon, they’re at the ready with a $65 blowout, full-face makeup application for $80, or just lashes for $15.

What: Menses supplies
From: Cora, corawomen.com
How to Order: Online
Delivery Zone: Anywhere
The Scoop: Started by a local entrepreneur, this customizable subscription box is filled with everything a woman needs for that period week (think: tampons and chocolate) for $15 to $35 per month. Bonus: With each order, the company delivers a month’s worth of organic pads to a girl in developing India who would otherwise miss school during her period for lack of adequate supplies.

What: Airbrush tan
From: SPF (Safe Personalized Faux) Tanning, spftanning.com
How to Book: Online, phone
Service Areas: Philadelphia, Main Line, many suburban towns, South Jersey and the Shore
The Scoop: Owner Moira Rubino’s biz is only mobile—she pops up her little tent anywhere in your home to mist you down with faux organic glow. Tans start at $45 and are available in packages.

What: Mani/pedis, facials, all things hair, makeup application, waxing
From: doorBella, doorbella.com
How to Book: Phone
Service Areas: Philadelphia and surrounding suburbs
The Scoop: Everything you need for in-home pampering is one call away. Unwind with a facial ($85), and treat your digits to a paint job by owner and celebrity nail artist Rose Velez-Miggins. Gel manicures and pedicures will run you $45 and $55, respectively.

What: Eyebrow shaping
From: Nicck Townsend, niccktownsend.com
How to Book: Online, phone
Service Areas: Philly, Main Line and South Jersey
The Scoop: Even the most unruly brows are no match for Townsend (he perfected his trade at OMG Salon before going mobile), who waxes and tweezes and trains your arches to grow into the shape that best suits your face. Thirty-minute house calls start at $35.

Beer and Booze

What: Craft beer sixers and growlers
From: Quick Sip, quicksipdelivery.com
How to Order: Online
Delivery Zones: Center City and South Philly
The Scoop: The owners of Hawthornes Cafe in Bella Vista have launched this service that gets their well-respected craft beer selection, large format bottles and growlers to you within an hour. Free delivery.

What: Cases and kegs of beer
From: Beerrightnow.com
How to Order: Online
Delivery Zone: Greater Center City
The Scoop: Have your beer (from cases of Bud heavy to craftier varieties, plus kegs and ice) delivered from local suppliers within two hours, or order in advance. An app and monthly craft beer subscription box service are launching soon.

What: Wine, booze and mixers
From: Instacart, instacart.com
How to Order: Online, app
Delivery Zones: Philadelphia and select suburban towns (like the Main Line and Abington)
The Scoop: Instacart sends personal shoppers to state stores to collect your order (think: chilled whites, reds, liquors and mixers); pay $3.99 to have goods delivered in two-plus hours or $5.99 for one-hour delivery.

Everything and Anything

What: Food from any restaurant or eatery, pickup/drop-off errands, quick items from grocery stores and drug stores
From: Postmates, postmates.com
How to Order: Online, app
Delivery Zone: Greater Center City
The Scoop: Postmates is the Uber of delivery: Bike and driving messengers “accept” your request. The company has partnerships with a variety of restaurants; features a “general store” for items like diapers, cough syrup and condoms; and offers a customizable field for almost any errand. The delivery fee starts at $5 and is based on distance (take note: There is price surging); 80 percent of that money goes to the courier, while the nine percent service fee goes to the company.

What: Personal assistants to organize closets, clean a house, fix whatever you need and more
From: TaskRabbit, taskrabbit.com
How to Book: Online, app
Service Area: Philadelphia
The Scoop: You put out the request (fix my toilet! Clean out my basement!), and qualified “taskers” quote you a fee and timeframe. You pick the expert. Note: The company adds a 20 percent service charge per task.

What: Housecleaning services, home repair and home-improvement help
From: Handy, handy.com
How to Book: Online, app
Service Areas: Philadelphia, the Main Line, and towns in Bucks, Delaware and Montgomery counties
The Scoop: Put in your housecleaning or room-painting request or Ikea furniture-building job, and they’ll email you a price and availability of a local expert—or you can book right online or through the app. Home cleanings start at $25 an hour, handyman services at $45 an hour.

What: Same-day delivery of lots of everyday goods
From: Amazon Same-Day Delivery, amazon.com
How to Order: Online, app
Delivery Zones: Philadelphia and select suburban towns
The Scoop: Two-day Prime shipping not fast enough? Order an eligible item by noon and get your goods by the end of the day. (A word about those “eligible items”: Availability doesn’t always make sense. We were able to get a coffee grinder but not plastic silverware or toothpaste.) Cost: $9.98 for the first item for non-Prime members; $5.99 for Prime members.

Fashion and Accesories

What: Women’s clothing, from casual to cocktail, plus accessories
From: Skirt, Bryn Mawr, styleboxbyskirt.com
How to Order: Online
Delivery Zone: Anywhere
The Scoop: Fill out a quick online style questionnaire, and the shopgirls will curate a box of clothes and accessories from DVF, Vince, Tibi and more. Keep what you like (they’ll charge your card) and send back what you don’t.

What: Men’s clothing and accessories
From: Commonwealth Proper, Rittenhouse, commonwealthproper.com
How to Order: Phone, or book your appointment online.
Delivery Zone: Greater Center City
The Scoop: After a quick convo, a store employee will canvas the city and buy you a huge selection of clothing and accessories. If you live in town, your shopper will deliver the stuff to your house the same day, help you whittle it down, and return anything you don’t want. If you live further afield, your goods will be shipped. $250 per hour; two-hour minimum.

What: Men’s and women’s jeans
From: Black Box Denim, blackboxdenim.com
How to Order: Online
Delivery Zone: Anywhere
The Scoop: Two Penn undergrads have broken denim shopping down into easy steps. Pick your ideal cut and color, plug in your measurements, and in four to five weeks, your custom denim will arrive. Not loving the fit? They’ll give you $25 to get alterations, or they’ll remake them. $145 per pair.

What: Eyeglasses
From: Philly EyeWorks, Rittenhouse, phillyeyeworks.com
How to Order: Online
Delivery Zone: Anywhere
The Scoop: The owners of Innervision have their own local version of Warby Parker, but with totally customizable specs in quirky-cool shapes and colors. Up to four trial frames will be delivered within five days; upload your prescription, choose your pair, and get new frames in three to five days. At-home try on is free; glasses are $149 per pair.

Flowers

What: Seasonal plantings for window boxes and containers
From: Philly Facades, phillyfacades.com
How to Order: Online
service areas: Greater Center City, Chestnut Hill and Main Line; call for other inquiries.
The Scoop: Enter your specifics—window-box size, sun or shade, home colors, your favorite flowers—and you’ll be emailed a planting date—or try the automatic seasonal plan. Since it’s all outside, you don’t even need to be home when the planters come. If you need an actual box for your buds, they’ll install one of those, too.

Laundry

What: Wash-and-fold laundry and dry-cleaning delivery services aimed at college students
From: We Wash It Laundry Service, wewashitlaundry.com
How to Order: Online, app, text, phone
Delivery Zones: Villanova, Penn, Drexel, St. Joe’s, Temple
The Scoop: Toss your dirties in a bag, book your pickup time, and the We Wash It fleet will have it back to you the next day. Wash-and-fold is $1.20 a pound; dry-cleaning prices vary. Sign up for the “Clean Club” to set a regular schedule.

What: Sustainable wash-and-fold laundry, dry cleaning
From: Wash Cycle Laundry, washcyclelaundry.com
How to Order: Online, phone
Delivery Zones: Greater Center City and West Philly
The Scoop: WCL seriously cares about the environment: All pickup and delivery is by bike, and all-natural detergents are used. Meet the 10-pound minimum and delivery is free. Next-day service is standard; wash-and-fold is $1.35 a pound; dry-cleaning prices vary.

What: Same-day wash-and-fold laundry, dry cleaning
From: U-Do-It Laundry & Dry Cleaning, Rittenhouse, udoitlaundry.com
How to Order: Phone
Delivery Zone: Center City
The Scoop: If they snag your laundry before 9 a.m., they’ll bring it back the same day. They charge $15 for a seven-pound minimum, and it’s $1.30 per pound over that.

Pets

What: Pet food, supplies, treats, toys
From: Doggie Style, various locations, doggiestylepets.com
How to Order: Online, phone
Delivery Zones: Center City, Fishtown, and parts of South Philly
The Scoop: For orders under $100, there’s a flat $4.95 fee (free delivery for anything over $100), and orders placed before 5 p.m. will be delivered that same day. Get myriad brands of cat and dog food (Merrick, Acana, Wellness, Blue Buffalo) plus litter, flea-and-tick meds, and tons of toys and treats. Laser pointer, stat!

What: Pet food, supplies, treats, toys
From: Rittenhouse Pet Supply, Rittenhouse, rittenhousepet.com
How to Order: Phone
Delivery Zone: From Girard to Snyder between the rivers; call for other inquiries.
The Scoop: Friendly staffers will special-order brands they don’t carry (those they do include Science Diet, Wellness and Blue Buffalo) and talk you through options for treats, litter, leashes and jaunty petwear. (Love that scarf, Pepper.) Delivery is just $5 however much you get.

Snacks and Other Edibles

What: Office catering
From: Fooda Catering, catering.fooda.com
How to Order: Online
Delivery Zone: Greater Center City
The Scoop: Type in the number of people at your meeting and when you want food delivered, and up pop options from area restaurants, like stir-fry from Wokworks and falafel sandwiches from Maoz, priced per-person with a 10 percent delivery fee. It’ll be boxed up and sent over with all the meeting necessities, like napkins and forks.

What: Organic sweets, fresh-pressed juices and smoothies
From: P.S. & Co., Rittenhouse, puresweets.com
How to Order: Online, phone
Delivery Zones: Philadelphia and PA suburbs
The Scoop: This Rittenhouse-based cafe dispatches its sweets (organic caramelized coconut macaroons), juices (spinach, pineapple, cilantro) and smoothies (raw almonds, blueberries, lemon, vanilla, Himalayan salt) within 30 minutes to city addresses. Fees are $3 for the Rittenhouse area, $7 to Center City, $10 to Greater Center City and $20 for ’burbs.

What: Fresh-pressed juices and smoothies
From: The Juice Philly, juicephilly.com
How to Order: Email
Delivery Zones: Philadelphia and suburbs
The Scoop: Aside from cleanse packages and subscription services, this juicery offers its full menu for delivery within a 30-mile radius of Philadelphia, usually to your door within 24 hours, if not sooner. Each $10-to-$12 treat comes in a reusable mason jar; three-jar minimum per order and a flat $5 delivery fee.

What: Fresh fruit
From: The FruitGuys, fruitguys.com
How to Order: Online, phone
Delivery Zone: Anywhere
The Scoop: This fruit service is based in San Fran, but it has an East Coast outpost nearby and sources food locally when it can. Fruit boxes and crates (which can be ordered one time or on a regular schedule, sent to your office) range from a few pieces to 50. Prices start at $17.75.

What: Gluten-free, vegan and allergy-free baked treats
From: Sweet Freedom Bakery, various locations, sweetfreedombakery.com
How to Order: Phone
Delivery Zones: Philadelphia and suburbs in PA and NJ
The Scoop: Get Sweet Freedom goodies brought straight to your sweet tooth within two hours across the city for a $16 flat rate. (Prices are higher for the suburbs and on weekends.) Call and ask what’s been baked today. Can’t get enough? Click on the subscription box instead.

What: Cookies
From: Insomnia Cookies, various locations, insomniacookies.com
How to Order: Online, app, phone
Delivery Zones: Anywhere near an area store. (There are outposts scattered around Philly and in Bryn Mawr.)
The Scoop: Warm (!!) and delicious cookies go from the oven straight to your door; $1.35 per cookie, or bulk orders ranging from a dozen to 300 (plus pints of milk to wash it all down). Deliveries run until 3 a.m. seven days a week, as the name implies, and can arrive in as little as 30 minutes.

What: Baked goods, ice cream, doughnuts, pretzels
From: Caviar, trycaviar.com; GrubHub, grubhub.com
how to order: Online, app
Delivery Zone: Greater Philadelphia area
The Scoop: Don’t assume these two fast-moving services only do restaurant meals. You can get treats from Federal Donuts, Little Baby’s Ice Cream, Sugar Philly and Scoop DeVille a.s.a.p., too. Caviar’s delivery fee is $4.99; GrubHub’s is $0 to $15.

Vices

What: Hookahs, hookah accessories, rolling papers, vaporizers and grinders
From: GoPuff, gopuff.com
How to Order: Online, app, phone
Delivery Zones: Temple area, Northern Liberties, Center City and parts of South and West Philly
The Scoop: Got something to smoke and nothing to smoke it with? Don’t resort to apples. Locally based GoPuff will bring you a head shop’s worth of smoking tools (from $2.95 papers to the $639 “Volcano Digital” vaporizer) for a low $1.95 fee; delivery’s free on orders over $35.

Originally published as “The Ultimate Guide to Philadelphia Delivery” in the April 2015 issue of Philadelphia magazine. Photography: Dom Savini. Contributors: Rachel Chernaskey, Carrie Denny, Adjua Fisher, Emily Goulet, Sandy Hingston, Emily Leaman, Josh Middleton, Ashley Primis, Richard Rys, Nicole Scott, Kaitlyn Smith