APRIL 9 • 2020 | 33
W
e’
ve all heard it:
“Why didn’
t you tell
me you were going
to the store? I needed some-
thing!”
Sheldon Cohn, a resident of
West Bloomfield and former
advertising execu-
tive at Doner, grew
tired of hearing this
from family mem-
bers when he came
home from a quick
trip to the store. It
gave him an epiph-
any. What if his phone could let
his family know when he was
at the store and they could text
him what they wanted?
That was four years ago, when
he began work on the app “Need
Anything?”
, which does just that.
The free app has been available
since June 2019 on the app store
and downloaded thousands of
times, according to Cohn.
During the COVID-19 epi-
demic and subsequent quar-
antine, Cohn realized the app
could be a game-changer for
those concerned about elderly
parents or other loved ones who
can’
t safely leave their homes for
trips to the grocery store.
Here’
s how it works:
Download the free app to your
phone. The app will show you
the stores within 10 miles of
your location. Choose your store
and then go to your “contacts” to
choose the people you want to
notify when you walk in. Using
the app, you can manually send
one text message to all your con-
tacts whenever you go to that
store that reads: “Hey, I’
m going
to [store]. Need anything?”
Some stores, such as Johnny
Pomodoros, have beacons set up
that will automatically send the
text when you walk through the
door.
“With the app, mom or dad or
bubbie and zaydie will get a text
that you’
re shopping, and they
can reply with whatever they
need for you to pick up, whether
it be milk or toilet paper,
” Cohn
said. “They can stay safe at home
and still get what they need.
”
The app works at grocery
stores, drug stores, carry-out
restaurants, hardware stores and
pet supply stores, as well. It takes
about 4 seconds to send the
alert out. The sender opens the
app, presses their location, then
“next” and they’
re done.
Fox2 Detroit recently featured
Need Anything? during its pan-
demic coverage, and Cohn saw a
sharp spike in downloads.
“Market Square on Walnut
Lake is just down from my
house and the Need Anything?
app makes it so easy,” said user
Ellie Bittker of West Bloomfield.
“I preloaded my husband and
three kids and I just send one
text to all of them if they need
anything, which they usually
do. I can just pick it up. I also
use it for carry-out to help my
neighbor who doesn’
t go out.
I pick up what we want and
what she wants. It helps me, my
neighbor and the restaurant. It’
s
a win-win.”
Sheldon
Cohn
JACKIE HEADAPOHL ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Need Anything?
s
c
New app helps people connect
at the grocery store.
B I R M I N G H A M
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