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Frank D'Angelo

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Frank D'Angelo
Born (1959-04-23) April 23, 1959 (age 65)
Toronto
CitizenshipCanadian
OccupationBusiness owner
Known forFounder of D'Angelo Brands, Inc., Steelback Brewery, Forget About It Supper Club

Frank D'Angelo (born April 23, 1959 in Toronto) is a Canadian entrepreneur in the beverage industry. He is the founder of D'Angelo Brands and Steelback Brewery.

Early life

D'Angelo was born to Italian/Sicilian immigrants Giuseppe and Carmela D'Angelo in Toronto[1]. He showed a knack for business early on; at age 9 he outsourced his newspaper deliver of the Toronto Telegram to other children. He held many sales positions (sometimes concurrently), and bought his first house at age 20, which he flipped profitably.[1]

D'Angelo's beginning in the food industry started when he worked for his father who owned Napoli foods[2] until they were sold to Saputo a year later.

Businesses

D'Angelo Brands, Inc.

D'Angelo is founder and president of D'Angelo Brands, Inc., which produces and markets beverages and some canned food items in Canada. It was in 1986 by selling apple juice door-to-door,[3] and the company quickly grew to success with the financial backing of Canadian politician Al Palladini. He grew his company after a chance encounter with David Stewart, the CEO of the Loblaws supermarket chain. They filed for credit protection in late 2007. On February 16, 2008, a numbered company owned by D'Angelo's family bought back D'Angelo Brands.[4]

Steelback Brewery

In September, 2002, he started and was the CEO for Steelback Brewery.[5] He was replaced after their financial problems in late 2007.

Forget About It Supper Club

D'Angelo owns the Forget About It Supper Club restaurant on King Street in Toronto, Ontario.[6]

Marketing: "I am the brand"

Steelback commercials from 2002 to 2007 always starred Frank D'Angelo who, although he was not well known and generally poorly received by viewers, was presented as a known celebrity. Steelback invested around $15M per year on advertising.

The ads were often shown in high-cost slots during Hockey Night In Canada broadcasts. Hockey related spots starred him and hockey celebrities such as Shayne Corson, Darcy Tucker and Phil Esposito.[7] In one commercial, he interviewed Ben Johnson in a pretend talk show titled 'Being Frank'[7]

Entertainment and charity

D'Angelo is the singer for his band called the Steelback 2-4,[8] which includes Mike Reno from Loverboy. Their first album is "You Gotta Believe to Believe" to raise funds for victims of Hurricane Katrina, the Breast Cancer Society and the Hospital for Sick Children.[9] On May 21, 2009, they announced the release of their second album "Full Circle" with nine original songs and four cover tunes.[10]

He has frequently sung the opening anthems at Toronto Argonauts games.

He released a recording of Silent Night in November, 2009 to support the homeless in Toronto.[11]

His RnB vocal style interpretation of Silent Night has seen success, and distributes profits from sales to Toronto charities.[12]

Frank has also been an active volunteer to help the city's homeless.[13]

Sport

On December 18, 2006, D'Angelo declared his interest in buying the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team.

In 2007, D'Angelo expressed interested in reviving the Canadian Football League's Ottawa Renegades (with the intention of naming them the Ottawa Steelbacks), but the league refused his offer.[14]

Controversy

Sexual assault charge

On June 9, 2007, D'Angelo was arrested in the alleged sexual assault of a 21-year old woman.[15] He was found not guilty on April 21, 2009.[16]

Several days after being acquitted, D'Angelo hosted a party at his Forget About It Supper Club. An Ontario Provincial Police surveillance team took photographs showing veteran Ontario Provincial Police sergeant Michael Rutigliano, and two crown attorneys, Richard Bennett and Domenic Basile present at the same celebration.[17]

On May 14, Rutigliano was charged with attempting to influence the outcome of the case.[18] He was accused of conspiring with D'Angelo to obstruct the prosecution of the case.[19] D'Angelo was formally charged the next day with conspiring to obstruct justice and obstructing justice[20]. He was to appear in court on June 8, 2009, in Brampton[21], and his case was adjourned until May 31, 2010[22].

Libel suit

Unrelated, also in June, 2007, D'Angelo launched a $2M libel suit against blogger Neate Sager for a posting on Sager's blog site. D'Angelo dropped the suit when Sager posted an apology.[23][24]

References

  1. ^ a b Hoffman, Andy (2007-02-23). "I am the product, the product is me". Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2009-05-29.
  2. ^ Wells, Jennifer (2007-11-04). "The ballad of Frank D'Angelo". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2009-05-29.
  3. ^ Menzies, David (2006-07-31). "The Scrappy Entrepreneur". Marketer News. Retrieved 2009-05-29.
  4. ^ http://www.globalmalt.de/joomla1011/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=755&Itemid=64
  5. ^ "D'Angelo acquires new facility". foodproductiondaily.com. 2002-09-17. Retrieved 2009-05-29.
  6. ^ Hasselback, Drew (2009-02-12). "Frank D'Angelo is back in the lime light". National Post. Retrieved 2009-05-30.
  7. ^ a b "Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Stars Retained As D'Angelo Brands' Spokesmen". Business Wire. 2002-07-02. Retrieved 2009-05-29.
  8. ^ "Steelback CEO and LoverBoy lead singer Mike Reno release inspirational song for Breast Cancer research". News Wire. 2002-09-27. Retrieved 2009-05-29.
  9. ^ http://www.dangelobrands.ca/charity/index.asp
  10. ^ http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/May2009/21/c6002.html
  11. ^ "Frank D'Angelo launches his own campaign to help the homeless this holiday season". News Wire. 2002-11-04. Retrieved 2009-12-07.
  12. ^ "Crooner sings to help homeless". Mississauga.com. 2009-11-17. Retrieved 2009-12-11.
  13. ^ "Frank D'Angelo Campaigns To Help The Homeless". Canadian Musician. 2009-11-21. Retrieved 2009-12-11.
  14. ^ http://www.canada.com/topics/sports/story.html?id=b463964d-fb45-4e62-96e0-ec340868b071&k=6250
  15. ^ Powell, Betsy (2007-06-20). "Brewer charged in sex case". The Star. Toronto. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
  16. ^ http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090421/verdict_dangelo_090421/20090421?hub=Toronto
  17. ^ Powell, Betsy (2009-05-22). "OPP photos tie Crowns to D'Angelo victory bash". The Star. Toronto. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
  18. ^ Accused in Bombardier fraud, Ontario Provincial Police sergeant now faces sex case charge Toronto Star, accessed 14 May 2009
  19. ^ OPP officer, Crown accused of fixing charges, court filings show Globe and Mail, accessed 14 May 2009
  20. ^ Powell, Betsy (2009-05-15). "Frank D'Angelo faces obstruct justice charges". The Star. Toronto. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
  21. ^ http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5gajmwrWC6y8tmIcaB_X84vQA2qqQ
  22. ^ Powell, Betsy (2010-04-18). "Frank D'Angelo comfortable in his own skin despite 'tough times'". The Star. Toronto. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
  23. ^ http://www.blogger.com/profile/08757652892056684490
  24. ^ http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070611/blog_lawsuit_070611?s_name=&no_ads=

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