Our History
Here's the original story of how Ozone started and became a legend within the billiards industry, as written by Shawn - Founder of Ozone Billiards:
Thanks for coming to our family’s website, Ozone Billiards. My name is Shawn Gargano and I am the founder. My wife, Ann-Marie, and I started this business in 2001 along with our initial investors, Judy and Fred Dillstrom (my mom and step-dad).
Interestingly, Ozone Billiards was started as a supplemental income. There was no great business plan or incredible help from any angel investors or venture capitalist. I was an independent sales rep for hardware and software sales in Atlanta and successful at it for about 4 years until the "dot-com" bubble burst in 2000. As a result, I started to look for other employment and I was not too keen about working for someone again.
Then I had a conversation with my mom and step-dad about the pool hall they just opened, Ozone Park Billiards in Coral Springs, FL. During this conversation, we came up with the idea of starting a website for billiard supplies. I played billiards for many years and really enjoyed the game. In addition, I had time on my hands so I figured why not give it a shot (no pun intended). Perhaps the website could make us a little money until my business clients started buying computer products again. It took about 3 months to get my website designed and up...Ozone Billiards was born in the summer of 2001.
What came next was the biggest surprise! Within 4 months of launching Ozone Billiards, it become a full-time job. Six months later, we moved it out of our house and into our first warehouse, only 1600 sq ft. Another year later, we hired Robyn and Eddie Gutierrez, my little sister and her husband, to help run our day-to-day operations. Once we had their help we were able to grow our business and the warehouse and moved into a 4200 sq ft facility. This only took about two years. Over the next few years we continued to have steady growth. By 2010, we had eight full-time employees and in June of 2010 we moved to a 10,000 sq ft facility. In 2011, our growth continued and we were excited to be named to Internet Retailers “The Second 500”. In addition, we expanded our warehouse again to a total of 16,000 sq ft and we currently have 15 full-time staff.
Everyone always asks "What is your secret?". I don’t think it is a secret at all... If you take care of your customers they will take care of you. The BEST way to grow your business is one customer at a time.
This has been an incredible journey that we have had thus far and we look forward to continuing on and seeing what the future will bring. We would like to thank our customers for our success because without you, there would be no Ozone Billiards. We hope you choose Ozone Billiards to provide you with the service you deserve and all of your billiard and game room products.
In 2024, Shawn passed the baton onto a new ownership group, The Rack Group. This team is keeping that original goal of bringing billiards equipment to enthusiasts and casual players alike remains. Focused on bringing great products, at unbeatable prices - with great service, is still the core mission for the Ozone team.
Look out for us to continue to find ways to help promote billiards and the benefits of 'play' for decades to come.
Ozone Billiards Gives Back
Ozone Billiards proudly sponsors a variety of charities and causes locally and around the country. 100% of our yearly profit from Breast Cancer Awareness products are donated to the American Cancer Society. We also support the local Boys and Girls Clubs, the Make a Wish Foundation and more. As a family owned business, Ozone Billiards, feels it is important to give back. We are able to contribute to these causes because our customer base has contributed to our success.
