The owners of XOOD, an all natural sports drink created by two Tucson cardiologists, announced yesterday that they are closing their business.
Salvatore Joseph Tirrito and Lou Lancero have decided to close after three years of operation.
The doctors said in a news release that they just weren’t business people.
“Although we have succeeded in many respects, we have failed in many others. Lou and I are cardiologists and although that gave us a very unique insight to formulating XOOD, it has left us severely lacking in running the business of XOOD which brings us to the point of this email.
We have decided after very careful thought to cease operations. Neither Lou or I have sufficient time or expertise to run the business the way it should be run,” the release said.
XOOD will no longer be available in retail stores or online after July 31.
Click here to read the entire note from XOOD.
Well I can see one mistake they made. About half of their stores in Tucson are shoe stores. How often do you buy new shoes? Say every six months? It’s hard to create repeat business when your customers only see your product once every six months. Try sponsoring some bike races or at least putting up some reusable banners there and market your stuff in the same places Cliff Bars are sold.
A few months ago, I took myself and my camera Downtown for the Old Pueblo Gran Prix. Boy-o-boy did they have a nice little tent city outside the Main Library. I’d even venture to say that it was better than El Tour’s.
I don’t recall seeing Xood there. Or at El Tour. Not to mention Cyclovia.
So, I’m going to piggyback on what Frank said and recommend being out there where the riders are.
Not to mention the runners and fitness walkers. Didja know that 300-400 of them converge on Downtown every Monday for Meet Me at Maynards. There’s a market for you.
Oh, one more thing. It’s true that doctors are not business people. I can say that from personal experience of being related to a doctor (who’s actually a Ph.D. — in engineering).
But the good news is that there’s the Eller College of Management. Which has an entrepreneurship program. Good place to recruit managerial types with a startup mentality.
Looks like:
H2O 1
Xood 0
correct?
Any sports drink like Xood or Gatorade or whatever aren’t good for you… quit drinking them… just drink water or coconut water!
If you think sugar is bad for you or processed anything is bad for you than you clearly don’t know the basic facts about nutrition. (not that you can’t misuse or overuse some of that stuff)
Xood was a really good product in my opinion. They gave it out at the 2008 Mt. Graham Hill Climb and it really helped me out. Similar effects as Cytomax but I really liked it. I hope they sell the formula to someone, I hate not being able to get ahold of something I like having, like why is Nike not making cycling shoes any more?
Their website says they should be back in business in a couple months but looks like that is not going to happen. It’s dissapointing, Xood was a much lighter drink in my opinion, not quite as potent as Cytomax but better than Gatorade.