Jayson Koss might be only 26 years old, but he already runs a successful business. Though to hear him tell it, the Delray Delivery Dudes kind of happened all on its own.
"It was pretty easy. It was really just a matter of sitting on the couch
wishing someone else would deliver whatever we wanted, and so we started
it and things got going," says Koss.
"A couple of us were from up north, and we were used to being able to get everything delivered. The food around here is awesome, but the only place you could get deliveries from was, like, pizza, which is ridiculous. So we started out just walking around and signing up the first couple of restaurants, and it's really just grown from there."
It was a slow start at first, but these days, new restaurants come to the
them. In the past few months, the Dudes have expanded to Deerfield
Beach, Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, and Lake Worth. Fort Lauderdale and
Palm Beach will be next starting on September 1 and then Wellington on
October 1.
"We're in the middle of expanding, of becoming a franchise. It's a process, but we're trying, " says Koss.
"We
deliver for probably over 60 restaurants over the locations. As
far as Delray, there's about six to ten drivers at any point in time. During season, there's more drivers around."
For the most part, the Dudes stick to the areas of Delray east of Military Trail but will make the odd exception for special deliveries. It isn't just restaurants. In addition to a well-stocked pantry from
which you can order such Dude-approved items as two liters of soda, bags of
chips, and candy bars, the Dudes will make just about any kind of
delivery you need. They'll even deliver items like alcohol, cigarettes, and condoms.
"We get a lot of orders from people up in the Northeast
calling for their parents that live down here in the retirement
communities where we do groceries for them once a week and we charge it
to the relatives up north. Or we'll get an email from someone down here locally; they'll send us their grocery list weekly."
Koss says that the Dudes have done everything from buying, wrapping, and delivering Christmas gifts to dog-walking.
"Somebody called down; their friend was on vacation down here, and she wanted
us to get her movie tickets and balloons and popcorn and DVDs. So we
went out and bought all those things and delivered it to their hotel room
before they got there. We're always trying to do fun
things like that."
The service is pretty reasonably priced: $5 for a regular restaurant delivery; for other types of deliveries, the Dudes are always willing to negotiate. You can order directly through their website or over the phone, and you can pay by cash or credit. But their success probably has a lot more to do with the fact that, well, they're just really friendly dudes.
"We really strive to make those things happen because that I believe is
what separates Delivery Dudes from our competition -- these big
corporations that only allow you to deliver certain things. We try to
really remain local and personable. Everyone knows our drivers by first
name, and we know all our customers by first name."
For deliveries in Delray Beach call 561-900-7060, or visit delraydeliverydudes.com.
For deliveries in Boca call 561-450-5560, or visit bocadeliverydudes.com.
For deliveries in Boynton call 561-674-9114, or visit boyntondeliverydudes.com.
For deliveries in Lake Worth call 561-674-9114, or visit lakeworthdeliverydudes.com.
Keep checking back for downtown Fort Lauderdale,
Palm Beach, and Wellington deliveries.
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