SAN JOSE — A high-profile downtown San Jose venue, weighed down by a sour California business climate and burdensome city rules, will shut its doors within days in a fresh blow to the city’s frail urban core.
Axe-Men Throw House, located near the corner of South Second Street and East Santa Clara Street, will cease operations this month, according to the venue’s principal owner and operator and a Facebook post.
The shutdown looms despite some bright business metrics for Axe-Men Throw House.
“Business was improving,” said Sarah Sed, principal owner and operator of Axe-Men Throw House. “We had a great product and there was a lot of interest. Our patrons loved that they got customized coaching on ax throwing. Coaches would be there during a session.”
Ultimately, the revenue improvement over two-plus years of operation didn’t suffice.
“We could never make enough money above and beyond the high cost of doing business in California and the high rents in San Jose,” Sed said. “We could never be consistently profitable.”
Even the high-profile location at 14 South Second Street in the old Voodoo Lounge building wasn’t enough to bolster the long-term success of the axe-throwing venture.
Ax-Men Throw House publicly announced its decision to close in an April 12 post on its Facebook page.
“After much consideration, we have made the difficult decision to permanently close Axe-Men Throw House on April 21,” the company stated in the Facebook post. “We want to invite all our amazing customers to join us during our regular business hours until our last day. Enjoy one last throw with us!”
Sed decided not to renew its lease in the building. The ax-throwing venue opened in 2022 and its rental agreement had reached its final stages.
The start-up costs and ongoing regulatory challenges contributed to the decision.
“The permitting process with both Santa Clara County and the city of San Jose was very difficult,” Sed said. “We ran into a lot of hurdles. It became a question of whether it was worth it to put more money into it.”
On top of the local permitting difficulties, the sour business climate and byzantine regulatory requirements in California were also factors behind the upcoming closure of the ax-throwing venue.
Sed stated that she believes significant differences exist between the bureaucratic restrictions in California compared with Texas. Sed also operates an ax-throwing outlet in Houston.
“Of course, it’s harder to do business in California than in Texas,” Sed said. “Commercial real estate space costs more in California. There are a lot more restrictions. Everything is just more expensive in California.”
The company issued a heartfelt farewell in its public post on the Facebook platform.
“We appreciate each and every one of you who has supported us throughout the years,” Axe-Men Throw House stated in its Facebook post. “Let’s make some final memories together before we say goodbye.”
Another ax-throwing venue is slated to open, potentially by the end of the year, a few blocks away on the ground floor of the Paseo Building at 201 South Second Street.
Unofficial Logging is the name of this planned venue. The new ax-throwing venture will be located near Urban Putt, a miniature golf course venue that opened its doors in February and is drawing healthy crowds.
As for Axe-Men Throw House, the departure is a fresh blow to San Jose’s urban core, which is still battling to recuperate from the coronavirus-spawned economic maladies that still afflict downtown districts in the Bay Area and nationwide.
Despite the ongoing economic woes in San Jose’s urban heart, Sed regrets her venture didn’t become a long-term success story in the city’s downtown.
“I wish it had worked out,” Sed said. “San Jose is a great city.”