Nearly two months later, deMoulpied's Presto Fresh groceries has two trucks, three employees and major aspirations to expand in Northeast Ohio.

"My wife and I are busy professionals who value our free time," said deMoulpied, 36, whose background is in logistics, operations and management. They are also the parents of a 15-month-old daughter. "We used a similar service in Chicago and loved it."

Rebecca Glass, a second-year graduate student studying viola at the Cleveland Institute of Music, said she discovered Presto Fresh while surfing online.

"Everything I've gotten so far has been really great," she said, while receiving her second grocery delivery in as many weeks. "I'm just totally impressed, because we don't have anything like this in [her hometown of] Dallas, and that's a pretty big city."

"It's a major time-saver," and an especially welcome convenience because she is visually impaired and doesn't drive, she said.

DeMoulpied, who launched Presto Fresh in late November, sees tremendous opportunity among the 1.2 million residents of Cuyahoga County. He expected to appeal to people who find grocery shopping a hassle, but has also received orders from home-bound residents and adult children ordering groceries for their parents.

He points out that while consumers have become comfortable ordering clothing, shoes and electronics online, the percentage of online grocery buying remains in the single digits. He acknowledges that as a newcomer to Cleveland and on the grocery scene, he's going to have to build trust among his customers, as well as win over those who like to pick out their own apples and bananas.

Here's how Presto Fresh works: Customers browse among the 3,500 items on the www.prestofreshgrocery.com website (including about 300 organic items), and pay in advance online. Items are delivered within a day or two within a two-hour window between 1 p.m. and 9 p.m., seven days a week.

The minimum order is $50, not including a delivery charge that ranges from $7.95 to $9.95, depending on how much you buy, with extra discounts for people who are more flexible about their delivery times.

Although a typical supermarket carries about 44,000 items, "our goal is to have 6,000 to 10,000 items," focusing on what's most popular, he said. His web site lists only 13 pet food items and five kinds of toothpaste, for example, but he has made additional runs to the store for some customers.

Presto Fresh doesn't have a brick-and-mortar store, and sources its goods from a network of 13 suppliers, including fish and seafood from BayLobsters Fish Market & Cafe in Twinsburg and meat, deli and cheese from Geauga Farms Country Meats in Hiram. Nonperishables are stored in a 7,000-square-foot warehouse in Warrensville Heights.

Although he won't divulge numbers, deMoulpied says that about 30 percent of his orders come from repeat customers, particularly in Parma, University Circle, Downtown Cleveland and North Olmsted.

Nate Filler, president and chief executive of the Ohio Grocers Association in Columbus, said Ohio has a few other grocery delivery services, including GroceryHeroes.com, which works with retailers in Toledo, Perrysburg, Kettering, Bellbrook, Bellevue and Port Clinton, but they are generally affiliated with retail stores. Buehler's Fresh Foods also offers a Shop, Click & Go online-grocery service.