Whether Ames residents are in need of office supplies, health and beauty products, household items, tech supplies or food, an Ames company promises to deliver it all in less than an hour without a delivery fee.

MonkeyThis.com, a company launched three weeks ago, offers a wide range of goods delivered anywhere in Ames with prices similar to traditional retailers.

“Our goal is to bring the store to [customers] at a reasonable price,” said site co-founder Austin Karr.

The site has nearly 1,000 items and is expanding its product inventory based on customer suggestions. All orders are delivered to the submitted address between 3 and 11 p.m. Orders made during delivery hours arrive in an average of 20 minutes, company officials say.

At some point in the future, the company will expand the selection of products for sale and allow customers to specify a delivery time.

Karr said the company’s mission is to make customers think of the site as an alternative to a trip to the store.

“The time it takes to deliver the products takes as much time – if not less – than getting in your car, driving to the store and picking the items up yourself,” he said.

So far, the company has been able to honor its promise of delivery within an hour.

“When I first heard about it, I wasn’t sure if they could pull it off and deliver the items within an hour,” said Benjamin Ellefson, freshman in design-undeclared, “but both times, my order was here within 15 minutes.”

Although MonkeyThis.com would like to move shopping away from the store, other local retailers aren’t taking the competition as an eminent threat.

Laura Jaeger, team leader for Target, 320 S. Duff Ave., said the site is uniquely suited to students, but shouldn’t have much affect on Target’s business.

“I’m excited that it has come to Ames and has fared well in Ames thus far,” Jaeger said, “but I don’t anticipate that we will lose significant business to them.”

Rian Short, store manger for Wal-Mart, 3015 Grand Ave., agreed.

“People like to get out eventually and don’t want to be cooped up in a dorm or apartment all the time,” Short said.

Although the company’s marketing of the brand thus far has consisted of word-of-mouth, minimal print advertising, a tailgating event and driving the two MonkeyThis.com Scion XB vehicles around Ames, Karr hopes students will be utilizing the services on a regular basis by next semester.

MonkeyThis.com has also combined marketing efforts with Blue Sky Creamery, such as fliers featuring both businesses.

“We had a bunch of fliers passed around our fraternity,” said Brian Anderson, sophomore in agricultural education. “I thought it was too good to be true, so I decided to try it out.”

Dawn Carolus, senior in apparel merchandising, design and production, said the service might not be suited to all communities, but would be welcomed by students who are for some reason campus-bound.

“It’s cool that they have feminine products and cold and flu products because you don’t always feel like going out to buy them,” Carolus said.

“It’s also a good idea for Ames so you don’t have to get on a bus, which might take longer anyways.”

Erin Meeker, director of marketing for the company, said sparing students the hassle of arranging transportation will be one of the company’s main selling points.