Bullseye: Stumpy’s Hatchet House

From backyard shenanigans to full-fledged business. 

By Jim Pytell, Assistant Editor On Jan 2, 2017

There is something very primal about throwing a hatchet at a wooden target and making it stick there. The stress relief, freedom and power are all intoxicating, and it’s impossible to throw just one of the mini axes and stop.

Upon walking into Stumpy’s Hatchet House in Eatontown, which is tucked away in a standard industrial lot, you’ll likely get a friendly greeting from the owners and then be overcome with an odd mix of welcomed relaxation and excited anticipation. Inside, the venue is clad with rustic handmade carpentry, which instantly puts visitors in the proper mindset for … throwing some hatchets.

After a brief safety and rules overview, participants head into the pits area to begin their experience. The eight pits are separated by cages and contain two wooden bullseye targets each. The areas behind and around the pits contain tables and couches for socializing, eating or drinking, for when you decide to take a break from perfecting your throwing form.

Co-owners Mark and Trish Oliphant and Stuart and Kelly Josberger are taking the quick success of their homemade business in stride, and are already going through the process of franchising Stumpy’s.

“I’d [attribute the success to] the uniqueness of the business … it’s something fresh and new to do. It’s also a great stress reliever and a sneaky workout,” Trish Oliphant says. “We coined the phrase ‘social throw down’ and it really is a great teambuilding exercise or social event.”

People will rent pits for a two-hour session in which they have the freedom to throw as many hatchets as they want. Due to the setup of the pits, separate parties will often merge, forming one big celebratory atmosphere with everyone having a good time letting loose.

“We’ve seen the full scale of ages from people in their 20s to their 70s,” says Stuart Josberger. “We do a lot of teambuilding and corporate parties, birthday parties, bachelor and bachelorette parties. We’ll even just have groups of friends come in on a Friday or Saturday night, bring in food and drinks and just chill.”

The idea for the business was born from messing around at a backyard barbeque. “The guys were bored so they decided to throw hatchets at a dead tree in the backyard. They looked like they were having so much fun doing it that we decided to give it a try,” Trish Oliphant says.

From there, videos of this makeshift backyard activity caught the eye of many a friend on Facebook, and the requests to come over and try it out started flowing.

“One night, we all got together and decided that we should make this thing into a business,” says Trish Oliphant. “We pretty much grew through social media only, and haven’t really done any traditional advertising. Social media is an amazing thing and this really shows you how much the word can get out. We’re sold out pretty much every weekend.”

 

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