NOVEMBER 4 • 2021 | 31

“His focus is on the growth 
of the JCC,” Kretchmer says of 
Siegel, “but he’s our visionary. 
He’s our vision guy.”
Yet the two business own-
ers share the same passion: 
axe-throwing. “When we first 
heard about it, we fell madly in 
love with it,” Kretchmer recalls. 
“Brian and I, we just thought 

it was the coolest thing in the 
world.”
Despite encountering skep-
ticism surrounding access to 
alcohol and axe-throwing, 
Kretchmer says the activity is 
“incredibly safe” and that the 
Ferndale and Partridge Creek 
locations have seen more than 
2 million axe-throws without 

any incidents. “Unlike other 
sports where you go and 
nobody watches you, we’ve got 
somebody watching every axe 
throw,
” he explains.

NAVIGATING THE 
PANDEMIC
Kretchmer feels lucky to be able 
to open a third axe-throwing 
location in the middle of the 
COVID-19 pandemic.
When Partridge Creek 
opened just a few weeks 
before the crisis swept the 
country, the business was hit 
hard and wasn’t able to gain 
the same type of traction as 
the Ferndale location. It just 
recently began picking up 
speed as COVID-19 restric-
tions eased.
Since securing the building 
in March of 2019, Kretchmer 
and Siegel have been plan-
ning what The Yard might 
look like, though those plans 
were temporarily put on hold 

due to the pandemic.
Now, two years later, The 
Yard is finally ready for cus-
tomers.
“It’s been a long time com-
ing,” Kretchmer says of the 
process. As a new Jewish-
owned business opening in 
Corktown, Kretchmer, who 
is also president of Tamarack 
Camps, is looking forward 
to The Yard joining a diverse 
group of restaurants, bars and 
more.
“It’s important, being in a 
diverse population,
” he adds.
Throughout his four years of 
operating axe-throwing venues, 
Kretchmer has discovered an 
interesting fact: that almost 
anyone can participate in the 
sport, regardless of age.
“You don’t have to be a 
strong 24-year-old male to 
throw an axe,
” he says. “My 
mother, who is 83 years old, 
can stick an axe to the target. 
It’s really for everybody.
” 

TOP: The fun space also has 500 board games to choose from.
OPPOSITE PAGE: The Yard in Corktown features 12 axe-throwing 
lanes.

Supported through the generosity of The Jewish Fund and the D. Dan and Betty Kahn Family Foundation.

 
 
 
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