After being medically retired from the army after 13 years, Mike Mcgraw, 31, was in search of a new venture.
Interested in working for himself, he and his wife, Amanda, looked into starting an ax-throwing business where he could use his military training to coach everyday people.
Started as a mobile ax-throwing business where they traveled to events in a trailer, the couple saved up enough money to open a permanent location on Main Street in Old Ellicott City.
AxGard opened in October 2020 and the couple started the business to bring family-friendly activities to Main Street. Frequenting the area in the past, they wanted to offer new experiences to residents and visitors.
“We used to come [to Old Ellicott City] all the time with friends before we even opened the business and we really liked the community and the feel of the small historic town,” Amanda said. “We’ve really wanted to bring something to Ellicott City like an activity because they’ve got all of the little shops and restaurants, but there wasn’t really much to do activity-wise, so we wanted to bring that to town.”
AxGard features ax-throwing activities suitable for children ages 13 and up and adults of all ages, according to its website. Visitors are coached individually at the start of each session on how to use the projector target system to keep score and switch between eight different games, including bottle pop, tic tac toe and zombies.
In September 2023, the business opened a splatter paint room suitable for children ages 4 and up and adults, according to its website. The splatter paint room allows visitors to spend between 30 minutes to 1 hour and 45 minutes in a black light room where they can splash glow paint across a canvas to create an art piece to take home. Following the paint session, visitors can participate in a paint fight using paint-filled pistols and squirt guns.
Amanda said the overall response to the splatter paint room has been positive.
“It’s something that people are excited about, but most of them have never done before, so they don’t really know what to expect,” she said. “By the end of it, everyone’s laughing and covered in paint and just having a good time.”
Heather Beck, 47, of Ellicott City, has participated in ax throwing and the splatter paint room at AxGard.
Beck said she has visited the business several times including her husband’s birthday and a splatter paint party with friends, where they had a paint fight wearing thrifted wedding dresses. She said it is the hospitality of the owners that keeps her coming back.
“Amanda and Mike are willing to host any type of event, almost, even things that they didn’t expect like the wedding dress [party],” she said. “The place is comfortable and they make it a really nice place to be … it’s just a cozy hangout in Ellicott City.”
AxGard
8390 Main St., Ellicott City, axgardaxes.com