CLARION, Pa. (EYT) — “Honestly, we didn’t really know what to think,” Fore Factory co-owner Chad Kiser said of their launch two years ago. That initial uncertainty has since transformed into rapid growth, as the business is now expanding with a new multi-sport bay in Clarion and a second location in DuBois.
Kiser elaborated on that early hesitation. “It was kind of new to the area,” he explained. “We weren’t sure what the off season was going to look like, or the busy season.”
As part of the expansion, Kiser and co-owner Christian Cyphert recently added a brand-new simulation bay that has a variety of sports that feature multiple game modes for each. The new bay features 13 sports and over 30 game modes, ranging from target practice in football, to hockey, dodgeball, and of course, the sport that got them started: golf. When the two decided it was time to start adding, they came up with the multisport idea for many reasons, with the main one being to broaden the enjoyment for the community outside of the golf world.
“It kind of blossomed to the point that we thought we could use another bay and one that had more sports compared to just golf,” Kiser explained. “We went with this just to broaden the field of people that we are trying to work with.”
To enhance the atmosphere in the expanded space in Clarion, the owners also commissioned a mural from local artist Jake Jones, which now covers a prominent wall.
Cyphert sees the new bay, which is located in a separate room beside the original golf simulators, as a chance for others to come and enjoy a fun atmosphere.
“We are trying to build it best suited for parties of people to come in here and kids or whoever can play on the sports simulator,” Cyphert said. “It’s nice in a sense that this room can be separated from the rest of the spaces so if you want to have a party here for kids, you don’t necessarily have to worry about younger kids running around the golf bays.”
Cyphert also added, “It’s also nice if you are in here and having a party, while the kids are occupied playing the sports simulator, the adults can be out there playing golf too if they wanted. So, that is kind of how we have tailored it for now.”
But Kiser and Cyphert didn’t just have a new room on their minds. They wanted to go even bigger. In addition to their new bay in the Clarion store, the pair are opening a Fore Factory location in DuBois.
“We are fortunate enough to have a guy out in DuBois that can help us with the day-to-day operations we do here that sometimes people don’t always see,” said Kiser. “Especially in the busy season, usually one of us is here every day just popping in, taking out trash, sweeping floors, and resetting computers. So DuBois was an obvious place because we had a guy that was in line ready to help us out.”
As for what the DuBois store will look like, Cyphert says it will be very similar to the start of the Clarion store. “It’s going to be just how we started here. There will be two golf simulators, the same ones we had here starting out. And if they do well, who knows, maybe we put something like the multisport one in DuBois.”
And don’t expect this to be the end of the creativity between the two. Cyphert says the gears are always turning for new ideas. “There’s a lot of things that we’ve talked about, a lot of things on the back burner, but nothing quite set in stone yet.”
The multisport room in Clarion is already up and running, while the two are targeting a mid-September opening for the DuBois store. Further details on the DuBois location will be announced closer to the opening date.
