SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Two workout buddies have teamed up to open an uptown store catering to bodybuilders and athletes, some of whom previously turned south or online to buy supplements and other aids, say the co-owners of the store.

Ken Balsillie, left, and Corey Stead, right, are co-owners of Muscle Heads Supplements & Fitness Wear, the newest addition to the Monkey Tree Mall. - Guy Quenneville/NNSL photo

Muscle Heads Supplements & Fitness Wear, located at the Monkey Tree Mall, opened its doors in late July.

The store is a partnership between friends Ken Balsillie, 29, and Corey Stead, 31, offering a variety of protein supplements, fat burners, energy boosters, cleaners, vitamins and workout accessories.

Together, Balsillie and Stead work out four days in a row, an hour and a half each day, taking a break on the fifth day before starting their four-day regimen up again.

Naturally, they go through a lot of protein boosters, but as they tell it, before they opened the store, they regularly drove south to Edmonton just to stock up on products, given the lack of choice in Yellowknife.

"We were spending money going down south, spending more money down there than anything," said Balsillie.

"Shoppers (Drug Mart) has Isoflex (a whey protein isolate), but they only have one flavour," said Stead. Other than that, "There's nowhere. Everybody's ordering from Supplements Canada ... We just brought all the best stuff (together)."

Teenagers and workers at the territory's three diamond mines constitute a large share of the store's clientele. Initially, a number of miners hurriedly came to the store on the day before the start of their rotation, looking to stock up on boosters and other products. Balsillie and Stead came up with a more practical solution for them.

"Guys there, they don't want to pack a big jug of protein powder. They'll just go up, phone us and we'll drop it off at (Braden Burry Expediting) for them and they get it the next day," said Stead.

The store has even shipped some products to Norman Wells, he added.

With Muscle Heads now established, Balsillie and Stead are hoping to fine tune the company's website and premiere an in-store protein shake booth where customers can try things out before committing their money.

"You can just buy a shake instead of going and buying an $80 tub of protein and not liking it," said Stead.

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