NIAGARA FALLS — Over the past seven years, local business owners have forged a partnership with one of their childhood heroes.
Brothers John and Paul Janik, third generation owners of Johnnie Ryan Beverages, along with their business partner and longtime friend Chris Haick, have been fans of rock band KISS, and particularly bassist Gene Simmons, since they were in elementary school.
“I was five years old, six years old,” Paul said. “I loved Gene probably because of my background, just loving horror movies. I was always into the Classic Universal Monsters. I took to him even before he started explaining his influences.”
“I just like KISS because it was basically like living, breathing art,” John added.
Having met the band’s members on several occasions, it was one particular meeting at a 2017 comic convention in Cleveland, Ohio, that got Simmons and the brothers on the subject of the soda business. A few months later, Paul received an unexpected call from Simmons, on a Sunday afternoon.
After a series of follow-up emails and phone calls, the two sides blended their respective visions and MoneyBag Soda was born.
“We’ve been trying to market the product to people who are into specialty sodas, into non-alcoholic options for drinks, your foodies or people who just look for something different and something special and that’s kind of what the product is,” John said. “It’s natural flavor, sweetened with pure cane sugar and beautifully painted bottles.”
The following year, Simmons visited Niagara Falls for the first time to celebrate the launch of the product.
Simmons is returning to the city again on Sunday for an appearance with numerous local officials on Goat Island at Niagara Falls State Park.
Following a 1 p.m. press conference there, a presentation will take place at City Hall at 2 p.m. at which Mayor Robert Restaino and North Tonawanda Mayor Austin Tylec will recognize Simmons with keys to their cities.
A portion of Main Street between Pine and Cedar avenues will also temporarily be renamed Gene Simmons Boulevard.
On Monday, Simmons and his band will perform at West Herr Riviera Theatre in North Tonawanda, with ticket proceeds going towards the theater’s expansion project. The show is Simmons’ only scheduled live performance in North America this year.
“Gene has really given up a lot of his time over the years to do promotional events like the one on Goat Island this Sunday,” John said.
“And what better way to celebrate that and to bring recognition to the area and then to have Gene Simmons come in,” Haick added.
Since the brothers last brought Simmons to the Cataract City to celebrate the launch of his product at a local 7-Eleven in 2018, they have been around the world with the fire-breathing, blood-spitting bassist.
The brothers and Haick joined Simmons in several cities on KISS’ lengthy End of the Road tour in an effort to promote the product and strike up business deals with national and international distributors.
John described hitting the road the Simmons as a great “learning experience.”
“It was interesting to see how all that came together for a big show like that and just how professional they were with us, with the fans and everything. So that was the coolest part,” John said.
“Gene and KISS for that matter were just so gracious…And there were times where Paul Stanley would come in as well,” Haick added.
In addition to international distribution, the product has garnered recognition from notable pop culture figures including Buddy Valastro of the TV series “Cake Boss,” American rapper Lil Xan and KISS frontman Paul Stanley.
“(Stanley) was gracious, he took photos with the soda for us and posted it on his social media,” John said.
Moving forward, they hope that the product will appeal to a wider demographic.
“It’s kind of like Arnold Palmer Half and Half. Your 10-year-old kid doesn’t know Arnold Palmer was a golfer, they just think it’s a drink. So that’s kind of where we want our product to be,” John said.