The mission of the Hood App is to boost the economy by supporting local businesses and artists, while working to erase the negative stigma of Stockton.
“We genuinely care about local businesses,” said founder Brian Alcones. “Support local, worldwide. (We want to) get people to be conscious of the decisions they make every day. (We want to be a) corp for mom and pop shops,” agree Alcones and Gill Asencion, marketing and promotions advisor.
The Hood App is available on Google Play and Apple app stores.
It took two months to assemble, and two weeks after for it to be authorized by the Apple App Store.
“The Hood App itself needs to be rebuilt from scratch to handle growth,” said Alcones.
The more data added to the app the slower it becomes. The Hood App is slowing down with traffic. The business model and layout was built off feedback of local business owners.
To avoid bots, trolls and the like from harassing the businesses using Hood, login is required.
The public still needs print media service but in a modernized fashion, said Alcones.
“I realized a lot of my clients relied on Pennysaver,” said Alcones.
Since Pennysaver went out of business, the Hood App hopes to be a digital replacement so local businesses can still keep customers coming back with promotional deals with coupons, like free oil changes.
Cost for businesses to use Hood App is $60 per month. What’s included in the first monthly package are two custom ads and shout outs on Instagram and Facebook. More than 100 clients currently use the Hood App.
Artists pay a one-time fee of $10 for a lifetime membership and a profile.
“I do go to the shows and promote the app, and to find those local artists that want to grow and thrive in their passion. I want to spread the word as much as possible so that one day they can get known by someone big and possibly be featured in something that impacts the world,” said Asencion.
The app serves a need.
“Through my experiences as a graphic designer I realized businesses were getting ripped off by advertisers. This (Hood) is how I help local”, says Alcones.
In the beginning the Hood App served two categories of businesses: establishments and freelancers.
Alcones realized those categorized as freelancers were mostly entertainers and artisans the category for artists was created. Since then the boost on social media has followed for Hood.
“I thought the initial drive of traffic through the app was gonna be barbers and hairstylist,” said Alcones.
The motivation to create the app comes from wanting to help local businesses by boosting sales. Naming the business, Hood derived from the word neighborhood because it was an easy to remember single syllable word and “it sounded cool,” said Alcones.
To find the Hood App on social media their Twitter handle is @hood_app, Instagram @hoodapp, and on Facebook @hoodofficial.
Currently all the $60 monthly fees are going towards the Official Launch Party. The official launch event for Hood is on April 14 at The Sycamore in Stockton. Tickets are $15 and available for sale on the app.