There was a time when neighbors knew neighbors, when residents chatted with delivery people and with the owner of the small hardware store down the street.

There was a time before the pandemic, before indifferent package drops from Amazon.

There was a time when shopping and deliveries were personal.

Carlos Colon, a Philadelphia real estate investor and tax analyst, has recaptured that experience in a new courier app service, ThankX.

“It’s a throwback to a previous way of thinking,” says Bruce Leto, Jr., co-owner of Design With Artisan, a web site design and marketing firm.

ThankX is one of Design With Artisan’s clients. Leto’s firm designed the ThankX website and is working with the Villanova University School of Business and other strategic partners to help Carlos bring ThankX to consumers.

The courier service was designed as a solution to the pandemic’s isolation, with deliveries that are COVID-19 safe but still personal.

Realizing everyone would be stuck in their homes with nothing to do and nowhere to go, Carlos saw a delivery need, and a need to stay connected.

“ThankX inspires hope and gratitude during tumultuous times such as the COVID-19 pandemic,” states a ThankX release.

The altruistic, mission-centered app offers a one-on-one exchange that connects someone with a need to an item in their community.  So every delivery has a unique story behind it.

It’s a versatile, customized P2P service. Juan can order food delivered from his mom’s favorite local food store to her home while she’s isolating during the pandemic.  Meanwhile, Joe can use ThankX to borrow his friend Larry’s Xbox for the weekend. Lastly, Sally can send medication to her abuela in a safe, effective, and COVID-friendly manner.

Connecting in the community is a critical part of the ThankX mission, along with the idea of gratitude. That’s why when a delivery is made, the driver will thank the recipient in person and see if there is anything else they might need.

Drivers are vetted from the communities the app serves and must be community-oriented.

“Our drivers must be customer-focused and facilitate a personalized, warm, and memorable delivery experience,” Carlos states in a release.  “Gratitude is important because, to Carlos – ‘what you give is what you get,’ Being thankful is inextricably tied to being magnanimous!”

So how does it work?

You can visit the website, gothankx.com, designed by Leto’s firm, to get all the details and download the app, available at the Apple App store and Google play.

With app in hand, register as a user.  Once registered you can enter the address where you want the delivery made, along with a brief description of what’s being delivered.

The receiver is notified that an order was placed and asks for their approval. Once you check out, a courier is on the way to pick up the item or items.

The app lets the sender and receiver track the order to its delivery.

ThankX is also a way to help local small businesses connect with customers in their neighborhoods, and with each other, Leto says. A marketplace section on the website lets businesses interact with each other.

The app services the Greater Philadelphia and South Jersey areas.

Villanova School of Business

The Villanova School of Business got involved in the ThankX project through Bruce Leto, Director of Sales and Project Management at Design With Artisan – based in Philadelphia, PA. Leto had taken entrepreneurial classes there taught by published author and Value Prop CEO Jose Palomino.

“My instruction specifically in entrepreneurial marketing helped with Carlos’ goal of getting things off the ground,” Leto says.  “Now, Carlos is on his way – he’s delivering and has been successful. He has investor support and a lot of it is due to the instruction at the Villanova business school.”

Design With Artisan

Leto describes himself as a project manager and “digital architect” for ThankX, creating the website and facilitating the appropriate digital procurements (if you like the website, let Bruce Leto know at Bruce@designwithartisan.com).

Leto also connected Carlos to the app developer, Divine Digital Agency in Florida. He’s handling promotion and finding strategic partners to work with, including the Villanova Business School, Haverford College alumni, PARMA Records, Supply Chain Game Changer, and The Episcopal Academy.

Design With Artisan has been around for two years, co-founded by Leto and Ricardo Tull, Jr of Philadelphia, PA. The business works with local small- to mid-sized businesses and nonprofits, helping them expand their roots and broaden their reach.  It prides itself on a personalized approach with clients and a quick turnaround time. Design With Artisan was rated the No. 1 Wix Design firm in Philadelphia based on search results for May 2020.

The business has served about 200 Wix clients all across the globe and the two co-founders have started a consulting company called Dynamic Wave Consulting to branch out to large-scale media plans/business consulting.

ThankX continues to seek investors and partners. If interested, contact Carlos Colon at ceo@gothankx.com or call him at 215-294-0725.