PLAINFIELD, IL — Axes and knives will be flying one last time in March as Axe Factor Throwing prepares to close its doors in Plainfield.
The business, at 13717 Route 30, succumbed to economic pressures, according to owner Dale Musick.
“We were coming back pretty strong after COVID, and then with the economy the way it turned, we could tell the difference with all the restaurants around us as well,” he told Patch. “People weren’t spending money on entertainment anymore. We definitely saw that our sales were quite a bit down compared to other years.”
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Musick and his wife, Tracy, opened Axe Factor in August 2019 under a five-year lease. With the end of the agreement in sight, Dale Musick said it was “too hard to stay open, especially in this climate. You just don’t know what the economy is going to do.”
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Axe Factor came about after the couple frequented other throwing establishments in the area and decided they “wanted to make it more of a hangout place and give people something to do,” Tracy Musick told Patch in 2019.
“The teaching and the safety and the comfort of the places just weren’t there, so that’s what we tried to do with a little customer service, and that’s what I think set us apart from the rest,” Dale Musick said on Monday.
What further distinguished Axe Factor from its competitors was its World Axe Throwing League certification. Seven people represented Axe Factor in the world championships in 2023, and five will attend this year’s competition in April in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
“That’s a shame that, with us closing, the people in our leagues won’t really have any place that’s World Axe Throwing League certified to throw at in the area,” he continued.
Axe Factor will be open through March 30. On the final day, the business will host an open house where guests can indulge in bites and beverages while throwing axes and knives one last time.
“Like Bon Jovi says, we’ve seen a million faces and we rocked them all,” Musick said. “We think that everybody that’s come through our door has had a positive experience, and it’s two ways: They had a positive experience on us, and we had a positive experience on them.”
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