Questions about AXT Axe Haus, answered in the words of the people who did the work. The engagement itself is on its own page.
What was the hardest part of getting the city's approval, and what had to be proven?
We did it backwards on purpose. The city's code had no line for indoor axe throwing, and a conditional use permit only issues on findings of fact that staff can write, so an application built on an analogy to an archery range would have had nothing under it. We opened first, in October 2018, on reservations, parties and groups, with an instructor on every pair of lanes, so the operation itself became the evidence. The city told us to stop after a noise complaint, we closed in January 2019, and we spent the spring turning four months of operation into a packet with a fact under each finding. We went to the hearing ourselves.
At the hearing, what persuaded the commissioners that the operating controls would hold?
The room pushed back hard, from the dais as much as the floor, and the chair voted no. What held it was that the conditions were ours. We proposed them ourselves, the valet, the hours, the gap between groups, the screen wall facing the lofts, so staff could write each one into a finding instead of the commission imposing it. A condition you propose is a finding staff can write; a condition imposed on you is a negotiation you lost. And because it was our operation the findings described, we could answer for it standing in that room.
What made the brand sellable?
Word travelled after the permit, and operators started asking to partner. What made it sellable was that we had filed the AXT mark wider than the room, across leagues, apparel, lessons, mobile rentals and venue operation, so the brand was the asset and the room was the proof. The buyer was getting a proven party business and an unproven walk-in one, and the pitch said so.
How did the competitive analysis of the national leagues change the AXT concept?
It made the venue credible and consistent. Some people get into axe throwing and want to compete. Building to national league standards meant we were not shutting those people out, and that is exactly what happened: some of them took it further.
What showed that the league-ready design was working?
We got a ton of press. There were literally hundreds of people at the launch party, celebrities coming in from all over the place, and all the corporate sponsors came and wanted to try it. The proof was in the traffic.