May 8, 2017

Meet Mario Zelaya of Bad Axe Throwing in West Loop

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mario Zelaya.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Mario. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
We had heard about axe throwing through friends. I had actually never been axe throwing before I started the business. Once my brother-in-law tried it, we were hooked and decided to start our first location in Burlington, Ontario. Axe throwing is actually something that has been popular for many years all around the world. I come from a strong business & marketing background – I knew I could take this cool concept and build it to be something great with Bad Axe Throwing. I knew it had a lot of potential – if I enjoyed it as much as I did, I knew everyone else would too. It’s fun, it’s a thrill and it’s exciting to learn to throw an axe. The fun factor was a driver into getting the business started. That with the important fact that I had plenty of capital and experience growing businesses, I started it as a fun side project.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
When we first started, we didn’t even have an idea how the targets should be built. The first targets we had were such a mess (haha). Eventually, we figured out how it all worked.

Additionally, growth is very difficult. Its hard finding suitable locations that fit within the business model, it’s not as simple as just finding any location. We have to factor in revenue projections to see if our business can be sustained. And because of that, we have a tough time expanding into cities we really want to be in. We have such great people, processes and technology in place that managing the business itself is somewhat easy. I used to not work more than 5 hours a week on it, but we’re currently upgrading a lot of our technology and now that I’m semi-retired, I’m devoting more time to helping our team scale up.

Please tell us about Bad Axe Throwing.
Bad Axe Throwing is the world’s biggest urban axe throwing club. Our professional axe throwing coaches will teach you how to throw an axe, conduct fun games and host a competitive tournament to crown a champion.

Our mission is to bring the thrill of a traditional Canadian backyard pastime to urban communities. With the help of our talented axe throwing coaches, hundreds of thousands of people have been able to share our passion about throwing axes. We pride ourselves in delivering outstanding customer service to all of our clients whether it’s for walk-ins, leagues, private parties and team building.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Happiness. I was always happy or having fun as a kid – I played A LOT with my two brothers. Whether it was playing soccer, baseball or video games, there wasn’t a day that went by where we didn’t play together. We didn’t have a care in the world – we would wake up, eat breakfast, then play the whole day.

Pricing:

Costs for corporate events that have more than 35+ people are $35+tax/person
Costs for private events including birthday parties, corporate & team building events, bachelor/bachelorette parties and any other occassion, is $44.25+tax/person.
We now offer public walk-in sessions where no previous reservation is required. The cost for walk-in sessions is $20/hour. They are limited in availability and are subject to change. Please check our walk-in schedule for available times ideally, the day before you’re looking to attend.
Our axe throwing leagues are only $15/week. They run for a total of 8 weeks of league play and also include a league appreciation night where you can bring in family and friends. We also offer over $100+ worth of perks to our league members. Total cost is $120+tax/person.

Contact Info: