The apps that brought snowplowing service to driveways at the press of a button can now bring relief from another back-taxing chore — leaf raking.
Many consumers wanting a quick response to an immediate need have moved from the Yellow Pages to internet searches and onto apps. In the Twin Cities region, they are just starting to see competition among app-based services that offer snow removal, lawn mowing and leaf raking. Like ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft, the yard-service app firms rely on local contractors to do the work.
Kathryn Hubert spent a couple of hours raking leaves last weekend in her heavily wooded 1.5-acre lot in Plymouth. Realizing that she and husband were buried with little time to rake and bag, Hubert searched online and called three companies but didn't get any responses. She then tried the Plowz & Mowz app on her smartphone.
On Monday while she was at work, the contractor bagged and removed the leaves and e-mailed pictures once the job was complete. "I was thrilled to have this managed by pushing a few buttons and it's done," she said.
"We just moved from the West Coast, where our yard had sand, rocks, drought-tolerant plants and one tree," she said. "I spent the weekend in a panic. We don't want to be the new neighbors who don't clean up their leaves."
Syracuse, N.Y.-based Plowz & Mowz offers the services in 30 cities around the U.S. "The majority of our Twin Cities business is lawn mowing, but people use us for snowplowing and now leaf removal too," said co-founder Wills Mahoney. The service does well in upper-middle-class markets where residents are familiar with Uber, he said.
Eden Lawn and Snow, based in Toronto, will launch its app for Twin Cities snow removal service on Nov. 1. It will add lawn mowing and raking services next year. "We'll plow your driveway, but we can also do sidewalks and steps," said Ben Zlotnick, chief executive of Eden.
Plowz & Mowz only does driveways but plans to add sidewalks and steps next year.