Champ is looking for his forever home.
If necessity is the mother of invention, than Todd Serpico, his wife and four other couples had at least the need: piles of kids and even bigger piles of beach chairs, towels, umbrellas and other beach gear.
Or to be more precise: piles that needed to be moved from Point A (vacation homes) to Point B (beach).
After a couple bottles of red wine a few months back, a lot of brainstorming, 1,000 emails, 500 phone calls and some creative willpower, the group may have the invention: a new Beach Caddy app.
The new company hopes to hire a staff of "beach caddies" traveling by foot and equipped with top-of-the-line pull carts.
"The Beach
Caddies will promptly meet you at your residence, rental or vehicle based on your prearranged time," the new company announces in its promotional material. "
Caddies will follow your requests and effectively establish you and your loved ones at your favorite beach spot. Beach
Caddy care will include a general knowledge of the tide schedule for that day. Use our app to book your trip either to the beach, or even for your leisurely stroll home after the relaxing day in the sun."
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One of the co-owners, Danielle Pizza, spent perhaps hundreds of hours working with a developer to create the app, which is expected to be ready by Memorial Day, along with a corresponding website (
njbeachcaddy.com). The tentative price range for one-way service is $11-$12.
"This whole thing started over a couple of families and friends laughing and dining over some eggplant parmesan and a bottle of red wine (or two)," Serpico said. "We had seven kids running around playing with each other and Pizza said, "Hey, wouldn't this be a great idea ..."
Serpico said the five couples have equal shares in the business and are made up of a majority of teachers (five), a nurse, and a few team members in the corporate world with backgrounds in insurance, real estate, finance, information technology, home repair, sales and advertising and biomedical engineering.
"Our common denominator: We all love OCNJ," he said. "We all have ties to properties on the island. We all love the beach. And we all have lots of little ones."
But the immediate need for the new Beach Caddy app is, of course, beach caddies.
For what seems like the perfect first summer job, the group is encouraging anybody to apply or get more information about seasonal employment by emailing: [email protected].
Beach Caddy hopes to need 60 by summer's end.
For more information, discount codes and apparel giveaways,
visit Beach Caddy on Facebook.
