Juicing up

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Randy Moss walked behind the counter in a pinstripe suit with a red striped tie, traded his jacket for an apron, took off his sunglasses and went to work - as the owner of a new fruit juice store.

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Making smoothies gave Moss another chance to smooth a rift with his home state.

Hundreds of people turned out at the recent grand opening of the Inta Juice store in Charleston to get an autograph from the Raiders receiver and try the product he first tasted while he was with the Vikings.

"Am I getting paid for doing this today?" Moss said, flashing a smile.

"Yeah, we've got minimum wage coming to you," replied Berkley Fuller, executive vice president and chief business development officer of the Fort Collins, Colo.-based Inta Juice.

Although he was a Heisman Trophy finalist at Marshall in 1997, the Rand native hasn't exactly been a hero in his home state.

He spent a few days in jail for a parole violation in 1996. By his rookie season with the Vikings in 1998, several articles were written, in which Moss criticized West Virginia and said he was happy to get out of the state.

But over the years, Moss has held less-publicized annual autograph sessions for children in Charleston and has taken several busloads of kids to an Ohio amusement park.

"I don't think there's any doubt that the healing's been going on for some time and the repair is pretty much finished," said Moss' lawyer, Tim DiPiero. "I think we're in good shape now."

A year ago, Moss directed DiPiero to call Inta Juice about bringing a franchise to West Virginia. DiPiero was skeptical at first. So was Fuller.

"My first reaction was a little bit of surprise," Fuller said. "Why is Randy contacting us? What's he interested in?"

Moss went to Colorado to talk with company officials and won them over. Not only did Moss start the process of opening a franchise, he made an undisclosed investment in Inta Juice, earned a seat on the board of directors and became involved in marketing the company.

"I just think it's a good fit," Moss said of opening his store. "We really didn't have anything here in town for the people that tasted like this and being as healthy as it is. So I just thought about investing and bringing it back home."