New Door County business brings a personal touch to running errands for people, businesses

STURGEON BAY - Personal services with a personal touch. That's what Erin Hunsader plans to bring to Door County with her new business.

Hunsader this week launched Erin's Errands, which offers errand services such as grocery shopping, picking up items such as prescriptions and making deliveries for individuals and business clients across the county. Oh, and with the holiday season upon us, Hunsader will shop for, wrap and deliver gifts, too.

There are a couple of similar services in Door County, as well as restaurant delivery services like DoorDash, but Hunsader said Erin's Errands differs from them because of the time she plans to spend becoming familiar with her clients and learning what they want or need from her. She describes it on her business card as "an errand running service that cares."

"I think, for me, it's the personal touch and personal service," Hunsader said. "Getting to know the people, I think that's the difference."

Here's how the business came about, and where Hunsader hopes it goes.

'What can I do up here?'

Hunsader previously lived in Door County (and was a reporter for the Advocate) but for about the past 25 years lived in the Green Bay and Appleton areas.

This past summer, family circumstances drew her back to the Peninsula. Her father was diagnosed with an especially aggressive form of leukemia that took his life, and her mother needed to go into an assisted living facility. The parents lived in a home in Sturgeon Bay, and Hunsader and her brothers suddenly had to figure things out.

"It was, what do we do about the house, what do we do with our mom?" Hunsader said. "I was living in Appleton. … I wanted to be close to Mom, felt a need to be up here − what can I do up here?"

Hunsader ended up moving into the house, and she was able to work remotely on her Appleton-based job as a social media specialist for that area's Habitat for Humanity ReStore home improvement resale store (she now performs the same job for the Sturgeon Bay ReStore).

But the idea for a business that ran errands for others was developing in her head. A visit to her mother at Bayview Senior Care in Sturgeon Bay helped convince her when a staff person there told her an errand service was a great idea.

"You have people here who don't even have someone to go get a gallon of milk for them," Hunsader said.

'Finding out their needs'

Hunsader asked more people whether or not a personalized errand service was something they'd consider using, or would be a viable business in Door County. After receiving a lot of positive feedback, she set her plan into motion, literally going door-to-door at Bayview Senior Care and putting out the word elsewhere to see who might want the service.

"What surprised me is, people were really receptive," she said. "People have been really positive in the community. It seems like it will take off. … I feel like there's a lot of momentum out there."

Erin's Errands ran its first official errands the week after Thanksgiving, with several senior citizens as the first clients. Hunsader said her customer list is mostly seniors for now, but a number of businesses in Sturgeon Bay told her they might use her service largely because of a lack of staff to take time to run errands, such as auto repair shops that might need a parts runner. It's currently a part-time gig for her, but she hopes it can become full time at some point.

Hunsader said along with running errands and other concierge-type services, she's open to services tailored toward busy professionals or working families, such as waiting in their homes to let in a repair person or helping organize a room or closet.

She emphasized several times, whether the customer is age 65 or older, a working person, a parent or a business, it's about tailoring her service to their needs. That's why she plans to spend time with them to put together a shopping list and budget (she does look for specials and deals in the stores) and generally get a handle on what they want.

"It's more like sitting down with a person and finding out their needs," Hunsader said. "Do you want to do this one time a week, once a month? I try to get to know them and make it really personal."

'A great place for this service'

Prices will vary depending on the service, Hunsader said, although she added her prices are aimed to be affordable and lower than, or at least competitive with, similar services in the Door. Shopping for seniors currently is $6 plus the cost of the goods, while the cost for non-senior individuals and businesses will vary depending on factors such as travel distance and time.

If it seems unusual to start up a business the week before December in Door County, where tourism drives the economy and many businesses shut down for winter, Hunsader said the slow season gives her the chance to build up a client base and smooth out any rough edges. Then, when visitors and snowbirds start returning to the Peninsula next spring and local businesses reopen, she hopes to be on sound footing for a new, larger pool of potential customers.

"I think it's just building relationships, making contacts, adjusting to what I've learned," she said about starting during the offseason, "so that by summer I can be up and rolling."

Hunsader noted that the customer pool should increase greatly once spring and summer roll around because of the annual influx of thousands of visitors who are staying at a motel or resort, may not be that familiar with the area and are too busy relaxing or doing Door County things to want to run to the store.

"I think Door County is just really a great place for this kind of service," she said. "You have people coming in and out of the county, staying at a bed-and-breakfast or whatever, who need to get something while they're here. They just want someone to do that for them, and I'm happy to do that.

"I'm just trying to be convenient. That's my tagline − Delivering convenience."

FYI

For more information on Erin's Errands, call or text 920-388-9760, visit erinserrandsdc.com or email penerin@gmail.com. The business expects to have a Facebook and Instagram page up soon.

Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or cclough@doorcountyadvocate.com.

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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: New Door County business aims to run errands with a personal touch