better living | the smart buyer

A world of service to your door

BY DIANA SHOLLEY

In today’s fast-paced world, time is a coveted commodity. Many people do their best to squeeze the most out of every minute.

Understanding those changing needs, many service-oriented businesses have found ways to help by bringing their specialities to their customers. Such indulgences as massages, meals, pet pampering and even car buying are available in the privacy and comfort of your own home. Some examples:

buying a car
New cars are fun to get, they’re fun to drive and they’re even fun to look at. What’s not fun is buying them.

Even if money’s no object, some people find going to a dealership intimidating. They may know the exact car they want, yet processing the paperwork can still take hours.

Many dealerships, including Alvarez Lincoln Mercury Jaguar in Riverside, will work with customers via Internet, telephone or a combination of both to help them get the car they want.

Once the vehicle, price and financing are agreed upon, an agent will deliver the car to the client, where the paperwork will be completed, according to J.D. Harrison, the general sales manager at Alvarez.

“Normally, a buyer who doesn’t want to come in knows exactly what they want,” Harrison said.

Alvarez does five to eight in-home sales a month. Many are return customers, but there’s been a steady increase in first-time buyers.

“A lot of times people will call if they’re buying a gift — birthday, Christmas, anniversary,” he said. “We clean the car, fill it with gas and deliver it with a big red bow.”

Alvarez Lincoln Murcury Jaguar
8051 Auto Drive, Riverside (951) 687-1212

personal chef
Even people who like to cook often never find the time. Take-out, convenience meals and restaurants eat up a budget as well as time - and that’s not even factoring in oversized portions, processed foods and diminished nutritional value.

One solution growing in popularity is having a professional bring prepared meals to your home or having a chef cooking in your kitchen.

“People are hungry for real food,” said Chef Dion L. Fields, who owns Incredible Edibles 2U, Inc., a full-service personal chef service.

Many personal chefs, such as Fields, who has been a professional chef for more than 15 years, make meals from scratch using fresh ingredient. Fields goes one step further, choosing organic foods. Depending on a client’s needs, she’ll go to farmers markets and specialty stores to get the proper and most healthy ingredients.

“Everyone’s on a diet, watching their weight. We don’t need diets. All we have to do is eat right,” Fields said.

Incredible Edibles 2U also caters private dinner parties, corporate events and parties, and also offers nutritional consultation and a cooking university for children and adults.

Fields plans,shops and, when needed, serves the meals, saving hours of time.

“Food is my life and I love to share what I know,” she said. “I give the best to my clients — only the best - and help them live a healthy lifestyle.”

Incredible Edibles 2U, Inc.
(909) 800-4660, www.dfields@myie2u.com

pamper your pet
It only took one look at watching a dog being lovingly groomed for Neli Byrd to know what she wanted to be when she grew up. For more than seven years, she’s been living her dream. The last two she’s been living it on the road.

Byrd owns At Your Bark and Call mobile pet grooming, a self-contained, traveling salon that pampers pets — cats as well as dogs. Byrd pulls up to the curb in her brightly colored van offering her four-legged customers first-class service.

“Pets feel at home because they are at home,” she said. “Owners like it because it saves them two trips to the groomers, and there are no cages, no germs and no other animals around while their pet is getting pampered.”

A warm bubble bath is only the start of the indulgence. She also does nails, glands, an ear cleaning and fluff dry.

For shedding, Byrd offers an anti-shedding treatment, the FURminator.

“It eliminates that extra hair that gets all over floors and furniture,” she said.

Offering her clients the most pleasurable experience possible, Bryd uses aroma therapy, soft music and lavender-scented shampoo.

“It’s all very calming,” she said. “I’ve been a dog lover my whole life and I love taking good care of them.”

At Your bark and Call, salon and mobile petgrooming
(951) 361-4444 www.barkandcallmobile.com

personal shoppers
A personal shopper ... what a dream come true. No more time, gas and money wasted on endless shopping trips that only lead to empty arms and hearts full of frustration.

According to Your Personal Shopper’s Web site, its services include looking for and buying personal gifts, business items, promotions and almost anything a person needs but doesn’t have the time to look for.

Clients can free their minds of obligation while a personal shopper combs catalogs, the Internet and highend department stores such as Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom, along with specialty stores — including Victoria’s Secret, The Sharper Image, Borders and Williams-Sonoma — for what they need.

Nordstrom itself offers two kinds of personal shopping experiences. An in-store personal shopper is available by appointment. Once they know what you’re looking for, they will do the shopping for you and have the merchandise ready for you to try on when you visit. The service is free and no minimum purchase is required.

Nordstrom also offers assistance by phone or e-mail. Personal shoppers provide services including nationwide store searches for merchandise, answering questions, tracking orders and canceling orders.

Your Personal Shopper
www.your-shopper.com

Nordstrom Personal Shopper Service
(888) 282-6060 www.nordstrom.com

spa treatments
Massages feel great. They are not only relaxing, but therapeutic. The bummer is having to get up from that warm comfortable table, dressing and driving home. There is another option: mobile massage therapists.

Regina Fernandez has been a massage therapist for more than 10 years. In 2000, she took a leap of faith and opened The Doorstep Day Spa, a mobile massage and spa company that covers the Inland Empire and Los Angeles County.

Fernandez, who has always had an entrepreneurial spirit, got the idea for her mobile service by talking with her cousins.

“The only way they would get a massage is to have someone come to their house,” Fernandez said. “They wanted to be in their own homes in their own robes and when it was done, roll over and go to sleep in their own beds.”

Fernandez thought about women like her cousins - busy, working, professional women (men, too) - who had families to care for and needed massages, but didn’t have the time to go out and get one.

“So many people work 9 to 5 jobs and have no time to go to the spa,” she said. “If they do go, they have to get up and drive home. Then if they hit traffic their stress levels start building up all over again.”

Massages have been helpful in easing tension headaches and insomnia as well as tight muscles and stress relief.

There are many kinds of massages and the therapists will go over what’s offered. Traditional types of massages available include reflexology, deep tissue massage and Swedish massage.

“Getting a massage helps bring the body into balance,” she said. “It really makes a difference in your life.”

The Day Spa
(310) 548-3278 www.doorstepdayspa.com