A Delicious Family Affair

Griffin Witte is following in the footsteps of his family, where baking and popping palate-pleasing treats are concerned. 

He and his parents, Sam and Melissa “Missy” Whipple, are owner-operators of Nav’s Popcorn and Donuts, which opened in late March. Located in a small plaza along North Collier Boulevard, the shop features a vast selection of gourmet popcorn types and small-batch, handmade, customizable donuts. 

This is the second location for the business. It joins the original Nav’s, which is located in a small town in upstate New York’s Thousand Islands region, near the border with Canada, where the family makes its full-time home. 

Witte, a 2024 graduate of St. Bonaventure University in New York, is heading up the Marco Island store. It’s his first time flying solo as a business operator. 

On a recent Friday morning, Missy Whipple was holding down the fort with customers while her husband and son were performing tasks in the small storefront’s rear, with the couple’s daughter, Lily, age nine, looking on. 

The air was filled with the welcoming fragrance of freshly baked donuts and the alluring scent of the variety of flavored popcorn types arrayed in bags neatly placed on shelves along a wall. 

“We make fresh vanilla fried cakes all day, every day,” said Missy Whipple. “People can come in and basically design their own donut. You get to pick one icing, one topping, and one drizzle for each donut. And we make them right on the spot. It’s fun for families that come in. It's like a nice interactive activity. The kids can watch their donuts being made right in front of them, so it's really fun. 

Options include cinnamon-sugar, or opting for chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, caramel, or maple icing on vanilla cake donuts. There are 12 different toppings, including bacon, chocolate chip, and chocolate sprinkles, coconut, Fruity Pebbles, sea salt, and peanuts. Drizzle options include chocolate, caramel, raspberry, and peanut butter. 

There’s also a drizzle of the week and a donut of the week that can be suggested by customers. 

Where popcorn is concerned, the New York shop features more than 30 different varieties. On Marco, new flavors are being rolled out one at a time on a weekly basis. The choices include one specifically designed in honor of the new location, the Marco Mix, which is a salty-sweet blend of caramel, white cheddar, and orange cheddar.” 

Witte received an undergrad degree in physical education from St. Bonaventure, where he was also a member of the swim team for four years. He returned to the university for a fifth year to serve as a graduate assistant for the swim team, while earning a second bachelor's in sports administration. The university offered a post-graduation job that he found appealing. But he also had another offer, one that ultimately was even more attractive – becoming part of the family business. 

“I had to make a decision on whether I wanted to take that risk or go the safe route,” explained Witte. “My parents had a pretty compelling argument for me to come and give this a shot and make it work.”

The family’s connection to Marco began with having good friends and relatives on the island and vacationing here regularly. After purchasing the original shop two years ago, which was then an established business, the Whipples found themselves considering adding a second location at the same time Witte, coincidentally, was completing his schooling. 

“We were looking for an opportunity, and my wife always wanted to expand,” said Sam Whipple. “We decided that this would be a perfect spot. They didn't have anything like this. It was just a good location, and it fell in that our son would be interested in coming down here and running it.” 

Witte said that given the surroundings here, “It wasn't a bad bargain.”

Missy Whipple said Marco’s vibrant tourism economy was naturally a major factor in the decision-making process. However, another factor also loomed large for the residents of the village of Alexandria Bay, New York, where the population stood at roughly 1,300 as of 2023.

“What we also really loved about Marco is it's a small town too, and there's a very strong community, and our connection to community at our other shop was super important to us,” she explained. “And I think that what’s helped us with our success there, we feel like that same opportunity is here as well.”

The business name is an abbreviation of the surname of its founders, Jim and Cheryl Navarro. The Whipples kept the name because the business was doing well in Alexandria Bay and as an homage to the couple who are also family friends.

“I think that it was a good idea to keep that as a legacy to where it all started,” said Witte. “And them being close family friends for years before that, I think that's the least we could do.”

He views managing the location as an opportunity to really test himself. 

“Running a shop is not easy after coming out of college,” he said. “I learned more in the last six months than I've learned in five years of schooling, just how to communicate with people in the town, how to work through problems that seem unsolvable. What I did learn is that if you keep working towards it, eventually it gets done. There's always an end, but it's just an end for a new beginning and working towards the next thing.”

Missy Whipple said she and her husband couldn’t be happier about Witte’s presence in the business. 

“It's really cool that our hard work, our son has seen that and wants to be a part of it and help us grow this thing,” she explained. “We’ve had a lot of talks about how we want to grow. Hopefully this isn't the last store, and it's really cool to have our kid want to do that with us. We're really lucky.”

Witte’s little sister said she “just loves” the fact her family operates its own business. When asked what she likes most about making the popcorn and donuts, her response was direct and to the point – “Tasting them,” she said with an engaging smile. 

Catering is also available at Nav’s Popcorn and Donuts, and the family intends to continue the business’ involvement with community fundraisers demonstrated in their hometown. 

“Our connection to community is incredibly important to us,” said Missy Whipple. “Having four kids ourselves and going through school and sports and stuff, it's super important for us to give back to the community that we're working in.”