O.C. BUSINESS PLUS : HEARD ON THE BEAT / SMALL BUSINESS : Home-Delivery Services Join Forces

Restaurants on the Run, the leading restaurant delivery service in Southern California, and upstart Whyrunout.com, Orange County’s first online grocer, have formed a strategic marketing alliance.

The companies, which together serve more than 25,000 customers, will do cross-promotions and joint marketing, including direct mailings. By joining forces, Lake Forest’s Restaurants on the Run and Aliso Viejo’s Whyrunout hope to reduce advertising and other costs.

“We kind of have the same customer base and figured we could hit both of them simultaneously,” said Doug Childers of Restaurants on the Run.

Restaurants on the Run delivers food from over 170 restaurants in San Diego and Orange counties, including Claim Jumper, California Pizza Kitchen and Macaroni Grill. Whyrunout was founded in 1998 and makes home deliveries of video rentals, dry cleaning and groceries to customers in Orange County and San Diego.