Page 15 - BusinessWest September 5, 2022

Anneliese Townsend
Sports & Leisure
Looking Sharp
Agawam Axe House Is on the Cutting Edge of an Emerging Sport
By George O’Brien
“Never attempt to catch an axe.” That’s one of a handful of
rules printed above the targets in each of the 12 lanes at the Agawam Axe
House. And while that’s just good common sense, said Anneliese Townsend, founder and co-owner of this intriguing business, this reminder is there for a reason.
“You would think that would be pretty obvious, but, in fact, it’s a natural instinct to put your foot out and try to stop something coming at you, so we have to remind people that it’s an axe,” she told BusinessWest, add- ing that, since she opened the doors in Jan- uary 2018, no one has tried to catch an axe.
But many have tried to throw one.
Indeed, this unique enterprise, said to be the first of its kind in New England, the only one in Western
Mass., and one of
just six currently
operating in the
state, has seen,
well, a sharp rise
in interest since it
opened, and the
numbers — of
both participants
and revenue —
continue to grow.
“It’s absolutely massive, and it’s getting bigger every day.”
BusinessWest
SPORTS & LEISURE
SEPTEMBER 5, 2022 15
The venue has welcomed a wide range of constituencies, from companies large and small that are looking for a new and differ- ent kind of team-building exercise (a large contingent from LEGO was in recently)
to birthday, bachelor, bachelorette, and divorce parties (axe throwing has become popular among women, as we’ll see); from leagues that compete weekly to individuals, many of them professionals, who are look- ing to blow off a little steam and rid them- selves of some stress.
There are many days when Townsend will see all of the above.
“It’s absolutely massive, and it’s getting bigger every day,” she said of the sport of axe throwing, which she was introduced to while on a trip to Montreal with her boy- friend (and now business partner), Bob Manning.
“We Googled ‘things to do in Montreal,’” she recalled, “and the second and fourth items that came up were both axe throwing,