Nova Scotia Company Opening Axe-Throwing Facility in Moncton
MONCTON – The attention of HaliMac Axe Throwing‘s owners will soon be split three ways, with a Moncton facility set to open in the downtown area.
The Nova Scotia company, founded by cousins Paul MacInnis and Adrian Beaton, opened its first location in St. John’s, Newfoundland in 2016, and the second one in Kentville, Nova Scotia in 2017. MacInnis said a decision on a Moncton site will be made soon.
“It will definitely be in the downtown core. There are a few options that are both available and potential right now, so we will make that call really, really shortly,” MacInnis said.
The Moncton location is expected to have five to six lanes for axe-throwing, depending on the site MacInnis and Beaton choose. It will also have a lounge area that serves snacks, as well as local beers, cider and wines, among other beverages. No hard liquor or meals will be served.
“We’re really excited to work with some local places to provide options for people to provide food in or bring their own,” he said.
The cousins are fast-tracking the opening of the Moncton facility, helped by the city’s economic development department to navigate the process. They’re hoping to open by the end of summer.
“We have two other locations and two of those have taken approximately seven or eight months from start to finish. That being said, we’re really really hoping that Moncton will be quicker,” MacInnis said.
“In fact, we really wanted to go to Moncton as our second location. But it just wasn’t right from a personal timeline for my partner and I. So we’re actually ecstatic to be opening in Moncton. We love the city, we love the vibe,” he said.
The cousins plan to hire three-to-five full-time staff for the facility, and five-to-seven more part-time employees.
MacInnis and Beaton got the idea of starting the business at the birthday of Beaton’s father, which was held at an axe-throwing facility in Ontario.
“We wanted to throw him a party that was gonna fit the bill for a 60-year-old from Cape Breton,” he said.
MacInnis said he’s since heard axe-throwing described as everything from “similar to darts but with axes” to “the millennial generation’s pool.” But whatever it’s called, he said the pastime is catching on.
HaliMac not only gets customers who’ve experienced throwing axes in their childhood, but it also hosts corporate events, bachelor and bachelorette parties, youth sports teams and even kids’ birthday parties.
MacInnis said his business has faced misunderstandings from people concerned about the mixing of alcohol and axes.
“Although it’s very subtle, the difference is this: we’re not a bar that has axe-throwing, we’re an axe-throwing facility that happens to have a bar where you can grab a drink kind of thing.”
MacInnis said in the long-term, the goal is to open more facilities. But there are no plans for that other than the Moncton location for now.
“We learned some hard lessons and realized how much work it actually takes to have one successful business, let alone multiple. But over the course of that one year in St. John’s, we really buckled down on how to do things properly.”
One thing that’s key for the cousins in doing business is community engagement.
“We’re very heavily involved in each community that we’re part of already. We really focus on those things, being charitable, building a community and we’re looking forward to rolling it out in Moncton.”