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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