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Valley entrepreneurs join energy-drink market
By Elise Franco
Thirst for success
By Elise Franco
Austintown
Two local men had an idea and a plan six months ago. Today they have a product flying off local retailers’ shelves.
Rob Magada, 30, of Boardman, and Mike Owens, 31, of Austintown, said they wanted to create a unique product they could market and sell in the Mahoning Valley.
Magada said when the pair decided to develop an energy drink, they never imagined it would happen so quickly.
The first shipments of Famous Energy hit the shelves last Monday and are available at more than 35 stores in Austintown, Canfield, Canton, Boardman, Poland and the Warren area, as well as Gossip Nightclub and Rumors Lounge, both in Austintown, Magada said.
“The number of stores grows every day,” he said.
The drink, which Owens said comes in the same-sized 8.4-ounce can as Red Bull, has a blueberry flavor and very little aftertaste.
“We focused a lot on the aftertaste,” he said.
Magada said getting the taste right was one of the more challenging and important parts of the product’s development.
“We basically got with a pharmaceutical company and said that we really wanted it to taste good,” he said. “We had 20 or more variations of the drink.”
The drink is manufactured and canned in the pharmaceutical company based in New Jersey, Magada said. It’s then shipped to the partners here in the Valley.
“Our office is here, everything is stored here, and we own the rights to the ingredients,” he said. “It’s FDA- approved, and all the ingredients are American-made.”
Once Famous Energy was ready to roll out to consumers, the pair teamed up with Austintown resident Brent Furrie, 31, co-owner of Gossip Nightclub on Raccoon Road and Rumors Lounge on Meridian Road.
“For the club scene, this drink is perfect,” Furrie said. “There’s no other energy drink out there with style. ... People were going crazy over it.”
The partners said they went through 22 cases of Famous Energy during the product’s Feb. 25 launch at Gossip.
For the skeptics who don’t like the taste of most energy drinks, Owens said, “Just take one sip and try it. It sells itself.”
Magada said that in the first week, several gas stations reported going through one case every two days.
“A Sparkle Market went through six cases before the end of the week,” he said.
Famous Energy is a nonalcoholic beverage that retails for $1.99 per can in stores — one reason Magada said it could become a competitor to other popular energy drinks.
The business partners said they’re in talks with several national chains interested in carrying the product as well as nationwide liquor companies interested in promoting it.
Furrie said though the ultimate goal is to expand the product across the country, they will continue to design, produce, manufacture and sell Famous Energy in the Youngstown area.
“We want to be famous for something positive here” in Youngstown, he said. “I want to stay here, and people leave, but they always end up coming back.”
For more information about the product, visit www.famousenergy.com.