Dreading that trip to the supermarket?

You’re not alone because grocery shopping ranks pretty low on the list for people who just put in a hard day at work and are looking to relax. But a growing segment of residents in the Los Angeles area now have an alternative.

Instacart, a service that can deliver groceries from multiple stores within an hour, announced Wednesday that it has expanded into the Glendale/Pasadena area.

Instacart has also added Gelson’s to its growing list of grocery stores — a list that already included Whole Foods Market, Ralphs, Super King, Costco, Bristol Farms and Erewhon Organic Grocer & Café.

Instacart connects customers with personal shoppers who pick up and deliver the items they want from their favorite local grocery stores. Customers can place their orders by accessing an app on their smartphone or by logging onto the Instacart’s website at www.instacart.com.

The company was launched in San Francisco about two years ago and has since expanded into Chicago, Boston, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles, Austin, Seattle, Denver, Atlanta, Houston, Portland and Boulder. Colo.

Instacart entered the L.A. market in April and it now covers Hollywood, downtown L.A., West Los Angeles, Culver City, the San Fernando Valley and the Glendale/Pasadena area.

“We are always expanding with the goal of being ubiquitous nationwide for grocery delivery,” said Walker Dieckmann, Instacart’s city manager who oversees the company’s expansion efforts and customers relations. “Our demographic is busy people who eat food. It goes from young professionals who are on the go and too busy to do their own shopping, to older folks who don’t get out of the house. It’s also convenient for moms with kids who are juggling too much and want to take that off their plate.”

Dave Jette, 32, of Los Angeles and his wife, Jenny Byrd, have used Instacart for the past six months. Jette works for a private equity firm and Byrd is in charge of event programming at UCLA.

“We are both very busy and we like to cook at home so this service has worked out great,” Jette said. “We’ll be in contact with our shopper because I usually want very specific things. I’ll make chicken fries at least two times a week, but I want the skin on because that’s what the recipe calls for. So they might call and say, ‘They don’t have that in the brand you wanted. Do you want another brand?’ And that’s totally OK with me.”

The fee for Instacart’s service depends on the size of the order and how fast a customer wants the groceries delivered.

An order of $35 or more can be delivered in two hours for $3.99 and the fee rises to $7.99 if the value of the groceries is less than $35. One-hour delivery is more expensive. A $35 order delivered within the hour costs $5.99 and an order of less than $35 runs $9.99. Customers can also schedule delivery for a later date.

Yvonne Manganaro, senior director of marketing at Gelson’s, said her company is happy to partner with Instacart.

“Partnering with Instacart enables our loyal customers to shop with us whenever it’s convenient for them — and that means even when they can’t physically make it into the store,” Manganaro said in a statement. “We’re also looking at this as a way for potential new customers to try our store in the easiest, most convenient way possible — and get to know us through our wide variety of gourmet products, fresh meats and produce.”

Instacart has experienced steady growth in the Los Angeles area, bringing on as many as 30 personal shoppers a week to keep up with the demand.

Personal shoppers are thoroughly trained, Dieckmann said, and paid on a commission-only basis.

“We have a very complete matching system where we distribute orders to shoppers based on their experience and past performance,” he said. “We typically keep our shoppers pretty busy. They earn about $18 to $25 an hour in commissions.”

Customers can open an account at www.Instacart.com, and get free delivery on their first order of $10 or more. Instacart also offers Instacart Express service, an annual membership that eliminates delivery fees for all orders of $35 or more. The cost is $99 and customers can sign up for a free two-week trial at www.instacart.com/express.