Mr. Sausage: There’s an App for That

Old school has gone high tech.

You’d be right to consider Huntington a hip Long Island destination. But few businesses have embraced the hipster set and smartphone market quite like Mr. Sausage.

The Italian-style deli squirreled away at 3 Union Place just off New York Ave. has its own iPhone app. That right, the guys who bring you fresh mozzarella and spicy salami are in the Apple Store alongside such popular fare as Angry Birds and Words With Friends.

Co-owner Joe Baldanza, working behind the counter of the 25-year-old business, said all businesses should migrate where their customers hang out. 

“It’s definitely a good thing,” Baldanza said of the deli’s year-old app. “What’s not to like?” 

Yes, Mr. Sausage has a splashy web presence. Yet it’s not enough to have a website in a mobile age. That said, Baldanza admitted the app happened only at the insistence of a friend, who developed the iPhone accessory as a favor.

Adam Steinhauser, owner of Huntington-based web applications developer Logic Web Media, said an iPhone app can be costly and does not recommend it for everyone. He prefers optimizing websites for mobile. 

“Most of the people I deal with you try to get as much done for them on a limited budget,” Steinhauser said. “They are small businesses starting out or mom-and-pop types. I end up doing a mobile version of the website.” 

Has Mr. Sausage seen any tangible payoff? Baldanza is unsure. But customers do tout the app from time-to-time.

“We’d like to do a little more with it,” Baldanza said.

Mr. Sausage currently offers a loyalty coupon on the app.

For an app to take off it must be more than informational. It has to be enticing in some way. That’s the challenge for local businesses trying to capture customers online. 

“Time,” Steinhauser said, “is the true test of anything.”