If Robin Hood were alive today, he might shop in Joliet, at Archery Plus.
The archery shop is 20 years old and has been owned most of that time by Tony and Pat Muhich. The husband and wife team sold the business when Tony’s health failed in 1985, then reopened it in 1989 when the second owner died.
“We reopened it and rekindled old friendships,” Tony said. “A lot of people came in who we hadn’t seen in years. We put a little sign out front and it was like we were the only gas station in town. It was phenomenal.”
Tony said the customers he used to serve as children were coming back with their own children.
“At first it didn’t dawn on me what was happening,” he said. “They’d say, `Remember me? I used to come in with my dad. You sold me my first bow when I was 12,’ and now the kid’s 30 and he’s saying he wants a bow for his son.”
The original idea to open the shop came when the Muhichs were operating a sign-painting business and Tony Muhich’s hobby was archery. Fellow hunters and target shooters would ask him for advice on how to set their bow or what kind of equipment to use. Eventually he became a professionally sponsored archer and figured it was time to open a shop full time.
“I thought it would be good to open up the pro shop to meet the needs of these people with advice or lessons or whatever,” he said.
The reason the store is going strong the second time around is “because of the way we ran the shop before and because we never sold something just to make $5,” Tony said. “The whole idea of a pro shop is to fine-tune your bow and fit you to the equipment, not just to sell you something just because it’s hanging on the wall. We sold them stuff that fit their needs. It was like a family.”
Bows range from $125 to $600; arrows run from $50 to $70 a dozen; and quivers cost $10 to $50. Tree stands range from $50 to $125; and lessons at the store’s indoor archery range run $15 per half-hour. The store also carries a full line of decoys and targets, insulated and non-insulated camouflage clothing, scent shields and decoy scents.
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Archery Plus, at 750 N. Broadway in Joliet, is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Call 815-727-1950.
