Ironside Axe Club closes West Des Moines venue, goes mobile

Ironside Axe Club will shut down its West Des Moines storefront at 2700 University Avenue, Suite 100, after its last in-store day on July 15, 2026, and shift to a mobile axe-throwing model instead. The club said the business is not ending, and framed the move as a continuation of a brand that has anchored leagues, parties and casual throwing in West Des Moines for years.

The mobile unit is already on the calendar for two public stops: Cedar Rapids Kernels Stadium on July 3 and the Madison County State Fair from July 16 through July 18. Ironside says the traveling setup will be available for birthdays, work events, neighborhood block parties and other gatherings, turning the business from a fixed entertainment venue into a roving event operation.

Scott and Lisa Gardner opened Ironside Axe Club in 2018, giving the storefront a brick-and-mortar run that stretched across the core of the venue’s recreational and competitive life. The club’s own site still lists leagues, parties, corporate team building, date nights and recurring programming such as Lunch and Throw Wednesdays and Trivia First Thursdays, a sign of how much of the business depended on repeat traffic rather than one-time visits.

That wider role has also shown up in the local events market. Catch Des Moines has described Ironside as Iowa’s premier axe-throwing venue and event space, one that has hosted tournaments, casual play, comedy shows and D&D campaigns. The closure of the West Des Moines site removes not just an axe-throwing lane, but a multi-use gathering place that had become part of the area’s nightlife calendar.

Ironside also built its name inside the World Axe Throwing League system. The venue has hosted WATL matches, including the Ironside Open tournament in June 2023, tying the club to a competition network that WATL says spans more than 300 affiliated venues across 47 countries. WATL describes itself as the global governing body for urban axe throwing, and its events feed circuit points and championship pathways.

The pivot to mobile gives Ironside a way to keep booking events without the overhead of a permanent storefront, while preserving its role in league play and sanctioned competition. The West Des Moines address is going dark as a venue, but the club is trying to carry its throwing culture onto the road.