Relief For When Lifting Can’t Wait

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When Nick Cegelski and Armand Farrokh started nutritional supplement company SuppNow last year, they wanted to make buying supplements just as easy as renting a movie from Redbox.

So the co-founders took a cue from the video rental kiosk business, launching their first supplement vending machine inside the Hollywood Gym on La Brea Avenue.

The self-service machine offers bulk quantities of protein powders, vitamins and other supplements from brands such as Optimum Nutrition, Cellucor and Dymatize.

Farrokh said the idea for the company came from personal experience.

“We both were college wrestlers at USC and into supplements,” he said. “We realized there was no good way to buy supplements. There was no combination between low prices and high-quality supplements and the ability to get it right now.”

Farrokh said he and Cegelski found supplements to be too pricey at retailers such as GNC. They would find better deals online, but then have to wait for shipments and sometimes had to work out without their supplements.

SuppNow placed its first machine inside the Hollywood Gym on May 26 and has plans to set up a second next month in the fitness center of luxury apartment complex Lorenzo near USC.

SuppNow’s vending machine offers shoppers a range of products including fat burners, protein powders and multivitamins.

While they plan to keep a consistent stock across their locations, some machines might have offerings tailored to a specific location. For example, Cegelski said the machine at Hollywood Gym, which is home to lots of body-builder types, carries a particular type of amino acid supplement favored by the gym’s members.

SuppNow gives gyms a cut of sales in exchange for housing the vending machines, but SuppNow handles stocking and maintenance.

The idea is to make it an easy – and attractive – add-on for gyms, Cegelski said.

“It’s not like we’re throwing a bunch of protein powder into a refurbished Coke machine,” he said. “There’s a 32-inch touchscreen and you can look at full-size pictures of supplements, read descriptions and understand how it will help you work toward your goal.”

– Subrina Hudson

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