Exploring Life & Business with Daren DeSylvia of Social Axe Throwing

Today we’d like to introduce you to Daren DeSylvia.

Hi Daren, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I discovered I had some family members that lived in Utah through ancestry and we met on zoom and I found out they owned an axe-throwing business. Shortly after that I went to my first axe-throwing place in AZ and fell in love. I met with my family again to ask about their business. We started talking about opening one in AZ. My wife and I have never opened our own business so we weren’t 100% sure.

I then approached my friend/business partner with the idea and he said he was thinking the same idea. So we set up a meeting and decided to be their very first franchise. We first started with a mobile axe-throwing trailer while our location was being built out. Then about 6-7 months later we opened up our brick-and-mortar and it has been great.

Our facility has 8 indoor lanes and 4 outdoor lanes on our patio. We have a bar and a kitchen. We also have some vintage arcade games that are always set on free play. It’s a one-stop shop for axe throwing.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Our build-out took 6 months longer than our lease agreement so we had to pay 6 months of rent while not even being open.

We started with very minimal staff and kindly flew by the seat of our pants in the beginning. But even with that we had a great start, great reviews, and return business.

We’ve been impressed with Social Axe Throwing, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We are an axe-throwing venue.

We serve water, soda, and alcohol.

We are the only axe-throwing venue in Arizona that has a kitchen and serves its own food.

We also have outdoor axe-throwing lanes. We are the only facility on the west coast with outdoor lanes.

We have a cornhole available on the patio.

We have free arcade games.

Music and great coaches to help teach and cheer people on

What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
Gilbert is great! The people are the best part.

Contact Info:

• Website: Socialaxethrowing.com
• Instagram: @socialaxeaz
• Facebook: Social Axe Arizona