 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

Member FDIC

We can’t help when 
your phone is at 1%.

But we can help you 
with mobile banking. 

