Courtesy Dinner and Flowers
By Christine Graf
After giving birth to her first child in 2015, Hudson Falls native Carly Trerise was especially grateful to the friends and family members who delivered home cooked meals to her house. It was out of that gratitude that the idea for a business was born.
With the help of her father, Jim Quinlan, she came up with the idea for Dinner and Flowers (previously known as Send A Meal Today), a business that delivers pre-cooked refrigerated meals that can be reheated in the microwave or oven.
The meals make perfect gifts for new parents, people who have just had surgery, or those who have suffered the loss of a loved one. In addition to entrees, a variety of homemade desserts are also available.
After a lot of time spent brainstorming with her father, Trerise enlisted Tamberlyn Dickinson to provide meals and baked goods for the business. Dickinson and her husband, Jon, are the owners of Dickerson’s Delight, an eatery in Glens Falls. They also sell their baked goods at the Glens Falls Farmer’s Market.
“After that, I started putting the word out that my dad and I had an idea that we were working on and that we were in the beginning stages and wanted to do test orders,” said Trerise. “I would use social media, including Facebook, to get orders.”
They accepted test orders for an entire year before officially launching the business in 2017. Trerise hired Kate Austin, owner of Advokate, a Glens Falls PR and marketing company, to help her as she worked to get the business off the ground.
“Kate helped us iron out all of the little details. She also helped us to really get our business name out there into the community,” she said.
The launch of Send A Meal Today was a success, and business grew steadily. The company also expanded their social media following significantly.
“The feedback was amazing, and it provided us with motivation to keep going,” she said. “We started out focusing on new parents but branched out to post-surgery, sympathy, congratulations, thank you, or just because. We’ve branched out even more to focus on people who might just want to have some meals for the week so that they don’t have to cook.”
Send A Meal Today recently changed its name to Dinner and Flowers, and customers now have the option of ordering a floral arrangement to accompany the meal that is being delivered. Flowers are provided by Binley’s of Glens Falls.
Delivery is available on Saturday and Sunday for orders placed by Wednesday at 4 p.m. Delivery is free within a radius of up to 12 miles from Hudson Falls, and there is a $10 delivery charge for deliveries between 13 and 35 miles of Hudson Falls. Weekday deliveries are also available upon request as are gluten free meals and meals for 10 or more people. Send A Meal Today also offers gift certificates.
During her six years in business, Trerise said that she has kept customer satisfaction at the forefront of everything she does.
“I still learn every day what we could do better, and If there’s something you think we could improve on, I want to know. I just want to keep growing and learning and be a stable part of the community where I grew up and where my children will grow up. For me, this is more than just a business or a delivery service. Everything is being made with love.”
The website is dinnerandflowers.com.