{"id":23141,"date":"2015-12-10T18:18:59","date_gmt":"2015-12-11T00:18:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=23141"},"modified":"2015-12-10T18:18:59","modified_gmt":"2015-12-11T00:18:59","slug":"signed-sealed-delivered-lt-distributing-solving-chicagos-receiving-dilemma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/signed-sealed-delivered-lt-distributing-solving-chicagos-receiving-dilemma\/","title":{"rendered":"Signed, sealed, delivered: LT Distributing solving Chicago’s receiving dilemma"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Arionne Nettles<\/strong><\/p>\n

Package receiving services are in hot demand, something LT Distributing<\/a> owner Thomas\u00a0Demme quickly discovered after becoming the first U.S. company to sell lockable parcel delivery boxes, called iBins, designed to thwart thieves.<\/p>\n

Within a matter of weeks, Demme\u2019s St. Charles, Illinois-based business expanded to include a receiving center that can hold customers\u2019 packages for them, and then deliver them to their homes when it\u2019s convenient.<\/p>\n

The service is handling almost 90 packages per day and has been particularly popular with young working couples and families in Chicago\u2019s Bucktown and Roscoe Village neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople don\u2019t want their packages left outside for three reasons: theft, missed delivery, and protection against the elements,\u201d Demme said.<\/p>\n

Roughly 10 percent of Americans \u2014 approximately 23 million people \u2014 have had a package stolen, according to a November InsuranceQuotes.com<\/a> survey conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associate International.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a problem that\u2019s expected to grow this holiday season, after a record-breaking Cyber Monday of online shopping.<\/p>\n

Demme understood this dilemma. Besides his distribution business, founded in 2010, he also owned the franchise rights to a pressure-washing company that did residential work. He noticed that many houses had packages and dry cleaning left on their doorsteps.<\/p>\n

After searching for a solution, he eventually found the iBin, manufactured in the U.K., and decided to bring that product to the U.S.<\/p>\n

The iBin, which costs $899 with shipping anywhere in the U.S., is designed for people who are not at their homes during the day, but frequently need to have packages, groceries or dry cleaning delivered. Each delivery service can have its own digital code, which can be changed at any time.<\/p>\n

Demme started to receive iBin inquiries from all over the U.S. \u2014 a natural growth made possible by the Internet.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for online sales and the Internet, I would not be doing this,\u201d Demme said. \u201cAnd if it wasn\u2019t for social media, I wouldn\u2019t have gotten the word out so fast. So to me, what a wonderful thing the Internet is!\u201d<\/p>\n

Demme soon discovered that many of his customers needed a way to handle large package deliveries, so he started to offer receiving services.<\/p>\n

It turned out that these receiving services had an even larger market, appealing to customers who don\u2019t frequently have deliveries and those who live in apartment or condo buildings that can\u2019t accommodate an iBin and don\u2019t have their own receiving rooms.
\n[vimeo 148562466 w=500 h=281]<\/p>\n

LT Distributing solving Chicago’s receiving dilemma (Written and produced by Arionne Nettles\/Medill; animation by Next Media Animation.)<\/div>\n

LT Distributing customer Pat Nelson has had only smooth experiences with the company after it was recommended to him by a friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had issues in the past where I had something shipped, it would be missed, and I would have to go to UPS or the post office to get it,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cWith [LTD\u2019s receiving service], as soon as I know there\u2019s a package coming, I just contact them.\u201d<\/p>\n

LT Distributing charges $3.99 to receive and deliver packages under 40 pounds and has been receiving around 87 packages per day, Demme said. He delivers most of the packages over the weekend when customers are at home using two full-time and two part-time employees.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s adding volume,\u201d Demme said. \u201cRight now, I\u2019m turning dollars. I\u2019m paying my employees; I\u2019m paying the rent. The profits will rise.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company currently uses four trucks: two in its fleet and two that it rents to cover a 40-mile radius in Chicago and the surrounding area.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was able to find permanent part-time delivery persons,\u201d Demme said. \u201cThese part-time employees were looking for weekend and evening jobs, so this works well into my plans.\u201d<\/p>\n

As volume increases, especially in the suburbs, Demme hopes to grow to seven to 10 trucks to improve efficiency.<\/p>\n

\u201cLogistically, it\u2019s a lot to plan the trucks out, but as it grows, we\u2019ll have a more condensed area [that each truck] will deliver to,\u201d Demme said. \u201cAlmost like UPS.\u201d<\/p>\n

LT Distributing\u2019s Addison, Illinois facility is protected with a multi-pronged security system, Demme said. For security reasons, he declined to allow pictures of the facility to be taken for publication.<\/p>\n

Each delivery truck has two workers for deliveries in the city so that the truck is always monitored and packages are never left unattended \u2014 an essential part of the system since Demme provides night delivery when customers need it.<\/p>\n

Major companies like UPS and the U.S. Postal Service, Demme said, are his main competitors, but they don\u2019t have flexible delivery options for customers.<\/p>\n

Local companies like Shurpa, Doorman, and ShipBob have receiving centers, but none offer a product similar to LTD\u2019s iBin.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are other services to help people, but the majority requires [customers] to leave the house and pick up packages at a drop-off location,\u201d Demme said. \u201cThat more or less negates shopping online, if you can\u2019t have packages delivered to your house.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Thomas Demme, owner of LT Distributing (Arionne Nettles\/Medill)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Arionne Nettles Package receiving services are in hot demand, something LT Distributing owner Thomas\u00a0Demme quickly discovered after becoming the first U.S. company to sell lockable parcel delivery boxes, called iBins, designed to thwart thieves. Within a matter of weeks, Demme\u2019s St. Charles, Illinois-based business expanded to include a receiving center that can hold customers\u2019 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":167,"featured_media":23149,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,509],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-fall-2015"],"yoast_head":"\nSigned, sealed, delivered: LT Distributing solving Chicago's receiving dilemma - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/signed-sealed-delivered-lt-distributing-solving-chicagos-receiving-dilemma\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Signed, sealed, delivered: LT Distributing solving Chicago's receiving dilemma - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Arionne Nettles Package receiving services are in hot demand, something LT Distributing owner Thomas\u00a0Demme quickly discovered after becoming the first U.S. company to sell lockable parcel delivery boxes, called iBins, designed to thwart thieves. 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