New London — Known as The Hub, a new retail store on Bank Street has sprung up as the new distribution center for a local rival to Gatorade while doubling as a kind of community sports center allowing residents to exchange used equipment, hold meetings and even sell tickets to special events.

The Heavy Hitters Sports and Beverage Hub, as it is formally called, is the brainchild of partners Shannon Brenek, Donald Benoit and Kent Ward, the latter of whom runs the Whaling City Boxing gym just above the space. The three formed a venture last year to manufacture and distribute Heavy Hitters sports drink, a natural thirst remedy that includes coconut water and real fruit juices, whose profits were intended largely to support a wide range of sporting groups and individuals.

But the partners had no way to easily distribute to people who wanted a case rather than a bottle at a time. And when they signed on to distribute the Willimantic-based Hosmer Mountain Soda in southeastern Connecticut, the idea was born for The Hub as both beverage distribution center and sports hangout.

"It kind of evolved," Brenek said. "I want it to be ... like a community center where you can buy soda or juice and we can generate a little buzz."

The store, adorned with lockers and a smattering of lacrosse sticks, tennis rackets and other equipment, is meant to attract attention to the partners' intention of providing free rides for needy kids who want to join Ward's Heavy Hitters USA program, which has allowed dozens of young men over the years to learn the discipline of boxing while gaining life lessons.

But the group in the past year has donated to many other local groups, including New London Little League, Mystic Hammerheads Swim, Valley Shore YMCA and Clark Lane PTA. Many of the donations were intended to get the Heavy Hitters brand known more widely in the region, Brenek said, but it is hoped that profits from the sports drink eventually will allow the partners to give even more generously.

Of course, that depends on the success of the brand, which surprisingly is doing better in coffee shops and breakfast places than in gyms, Brenek said.

"We thought we were going to be a gym drink," Brenek said.

She added that the reason gyms haven't caught on as quickly may be as simple as the lack of space to display and market the drinks, which require refrigeration.

With the addition of Hosmer soda, the partners formed H&H Distributing Co., and now have about 20 stores in the area where they deliver at least one of their products every Friday. Heavy Hitters is bottled by Maple Lane Farms owner Allyn Brown at his Norwich Beverage Holdings plant.

"We have a lot of coffee shops," she said. "We're identifying who our niche markets are."

To that end, Brenek and Benoit, both professors at Mitchell College, are testing new formulations of the product as well as updated product labels with the help of their business students. Two students, senior Andrew Hay and junior Joseph Myers, are working as interns at the store, spending much of their spring break painting the shop's walls.

"We wouldn't have been open without these guys," Brenek said.

So far, the shop has been open consistently on weekends, but weekdays have been difficult to staff consistently. The partners are hoping someone with a sports-related business would be interested in adding their products to the store's mix while helping to staff The Hub on a more regular basis.

The partners are hoping to host baseball drafts, umpire meetings, sports-award planning sessions and the like at their space. In addition, they are hoping to sell tickets to local sporting events and generally make their place a hub of sporting activity in the area.

Though sports gear scattered around the store may make it appear as if it is a used-goods shop, Brenek said the intention is to take in donations and distribute items such as wrestling shoes to parents whose kids may be trying out a sport and don't want to spend a large amount of money on equipment that may be lightly used. She said in effect the store could be a lending library for sporting equipment that some kids might not otherwise have access to.

"Some of this stuff is expensive," Kent said.

"When you have the gear, you belong," Brenek said. "It's not necessarily for people who cannot afford it."

l.howard@theday.com

Editor's note:This article has been edited to correct the name of Andrew Hay.

WHAT: Heavy Hitters Sports Hub

WHERE: 365 Bank St., New London

WHO: Donald Benoit, Kent Ward, Shannon Brenek

PHONE: (860) 333-4771

WEBSITES: www.drinkheavyhitters.com; www.hosmersoda.com