Diamond Nutrition opens sister site in Blackwell

Those who have been craving nutritional shakes, meal replacement smoothies, and delicious healthy snacks won't have to wait much longer as Onyx Nutrition plans to open this week at 123 W. Blackwell Ave.

Onyx, a sister-site to Herbalife nutritional shops in the area – including two Diamond Nutrition smoothie bars in Ponca City and five more across Kay County – had been in the works since the beginning of the year. The coronavirus pandemic temporarily slowed progress.

“I bought the building in 2018,” owner Kristi Jo Payne said, “and I didn't know really what I was going to do with it … until I went and tried out Diamond Nutrition in Ponca.”

Payne said she fell in love with the site, which has become a Ponca City staple thanks to social media awareness. Customers “check-in” at the site on Facebook to receive a discount. Currently, Diamond Nutrition has nearly 3,000 Facebook “likes” and more than 16,000 check-ins.

“I would see people posting about it all the time, and I went in one day and just told them, basically, that I wanted to open one of their shops in Blackwell,” Payne said.

The irony of opening a healthy nutritional shop in the former Daylight Donuts building wasn't lost on Payne, who said she wanted to keep the sweets of the former store by offering a Maple Long John shake as a special item during the shop’s first week.

“Onyx Nutrition will offer meal replacement shakes, pre-workout and post-workout supplements,” she said. “Onyx will help with maintaining weight, weight loss, weight gain – there's something here for everyone, and that's kind of the point.”

Payne currently owns and operates JoJo's Customs on Main Street. The store specializes in customized apparel such as T-shirts, ball caps, and more. Onyx, Payne said, is a way to continue having a positive impact on the community.

“Onyx Nutrition is an extension of Diamond and the other Herbalife sites,” she said. “It's about positivity. It's about bringing people together, supporting each-other in our separate journeys. I think now that's more important than ever, and I'm so excited to be a part of people’s lives in such a positive way.”

Onyx Nutrition will be open Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Onyx currently has a Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/onyxnutritionok, where store officials have been keeping residents updated on the progress of construction. That page currently has more than 300 “likes.” The store will offer the same check-in/discount incentive as Diamond Nutrition in Ponca City as well as its own individual punch-card.