Customers of Divine Naples Beach Delivery can’t miss the 32-year-old retired Japanese fire truck, with its sirens blaring and lights flashing as it pulls up with a fresh order, drawing curious onlookers at the beach parking lot. with only a vision for Collier County residents.
“I came to this country with nothing, but I was driven by the dream of creating something meaningful and being an example
in the community,” he said. Martina Planavska, owner of Divine Naples, shares this vision and executes it in part with Divine Naples Coffee & Wine. The company offers a European-style experience with espresso drinks, teas, wine, breakfast, salads, sandwiches and more.
“We wanted to bring a little bit more experience from Europe, where people get together,” Muller said. “Our goal is to create community with how people get together. Nobody wants to drink coffee alone.”
The delivery service—Divine Naples delivers to 35 beach access locations—was created to enhance social outings, saving customers from lugging coolers, battling the sand or losing a parking spot to forage for a forgotten item. In addition to wine, food, cold drinks and freshly brewed coffee onsite, beachgoers and guests of 15 downtown hotels can order items such as sunscreen, baby wipes and ice cubes and look forward to lounge gear, ice cream from a freezer built into the truck and charcuterie platters for couples. There’s no delivery charge minimum, and the truck comes in less than 40 minutes. Because the emphasis is delivery, Divine Naples Beach Delivery doesn’t take new orders on the spot.
“We don’t want to operate like a food truck, so we always say, please go to the website ( beachsos.com). We want to create habit and make sure people understand all the products we have, as well,” Muller said. Divine Naples’ blend of deeply believing in what it’s doing and being flexible enough to respond to customer needs has sustained it through many tests that could easily close a small business. After nine months of remodeling its brick-and-mortar location, the business’ street closed until the end of the year for reconstruction. Soon after, the pandemic followed, forcing social distancing.
“We never shut down. We stayed open, but we had no customers. We provided free meals and drinks to anybody in uniform,” Muller said, also describing other charitable efforts. In September 2022, the business got hit with nearly 3 feet of water due to Hurricane Ian.
“We lost everything,” Muller said, adding that the total damage was $250,000, and the company did not have assistance from insurance or the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It also did not apply for loans during the pandemic.
“After the flood, we were closed from September to February rebuilding, and only thanks to our customers and friends were we able to rebuild our business, while we had to pay rent with no income,” he recalled. Ever resilient, Divine Naples is preparing to move to a larger location a few blocks from its current location to offer more and expand its delivery services. It also plans to franchise the concept to different cities.
“Because of stubbornness, determination and refusal to fail, we are still in business,” Muller said. “If you come to this country with nothing, you are so determined and so driven to never leave with nothing. It’s just step-by-step—make $20, save $10, spend $10 on food. This is what people from different countries do every single day. If you don’t have a choice, you only have a dream, everything is possible.”
https://www.naplespress.com/2024/08/09/delivery-on-the-beach-fueled-by-divine-dreams/
