The Ventures of Vincent Ayar

Ooze is the venture Vincent Ayar is best known for. Founded on April 1, 2015 and headquartered in Oak Park, Michigan, the company launched with personal vaporizer batteries and grew into a broad line of accessories for flower and concentrate users. Vincent has overseen the design and development of the company and its brand since day one.

Its product history includes 510-thread vape batteries backed by the Ooze Warranty Program, the Slugger Dabbin Dugout silicone travel kit, and the Kettle rig and its variations — Stack, Trip and Steamboat. The common thread is the brand's ethos: fun, function, interchangeability and portability.

A brand needs a path to the shelf. Ooze Wholesale, later renamed Cannatron, is the Oak Park-based distribution arm that moves Ooze and house brands such as King Palm, Truweigh, Stache, Loud Lock and Green Monkey to more than 500 distributors and 8,000 retail shops across the United States and Canada. Vincent Ayar is listed as a Partner.

The company was named to the Inc. 5000 list of America's fastest-growing private companies in 2019 and 2020 — a recognition of the business and the team behind it.

Before the accessory business, Vincent Ayar worked on the retail side of Metro Detroit commerce. He is an owner at Shoe Rack Outlet and previously worked at Foodtown Supermarket, a Metro Detroit grocery. Those businesses run on the same fundamentals that matter for a consumer brand: inventory, merchandising, pricing and knowing what customers actually want.

Across these ventures, a few principles recur. Control the product: Ooze sources every component of its products itself, including batteries. Reinvest: early profits were kept in the company to fund growth, R&D and marketing. Think nationally, hire locally: Ooze's owners are all Michigan natives, and much of its shipping, marketing and design staff is from the area.

The result is a set of businesses that connect to one another. The brand designs and sources the products; the distribution business places them in front of thousands of retailers; and the retail experience informs how both are run. Explore each venture of Vincent Ayar below.

Vincent Ayar's ventures follow a clear progression from local retail to a national brand and distribution network.