OUR STORY
From the Great State of Michigan
We have been blessed to be in the small town of St. Joseph, Michigan for so many years now. A close-knit community located on the shores of Lake Michigan. But, in all honesty, it’s not all great. The roads are awful. You better buckle up when driving.
Luckily, most of our community is either involved heavily in the auto Industry, farming, or some sort of manufacturing. So with that comes a true passion for hard work and craftsmanship, but also a solid background in production. Being on Lake Michigan, many people enjoy being outdoors, spending tons of time hunting and fishing. So we're thankful to live next door to like-minded people, who love the same things we do.
Though, we are a small, family-run business, we could certainly be much larger than we are. However, we want everyone involved to be able to enjoy life and provide for their families. Heck, we want to hunt and fish too.
ALL SEASONS ARCHERY
From 2001-2009, Kelly Branch and Vern Keson owned and operated a full-service archery shop and range, located in Watervliet, Michigan.
A 7,200 square-foot building, located on 30 plus acres, including a 16-lane Indoor range, Techno Hunt Video
System, and a 30-target Outdoor 3D Course. In the shop, our motto was simple: “Our Aim is to Improve Your Aim”. After all, that is why people go to a pro shop.
Our focus was on providing the best service and quality products at a reasonable price. The goal was not just selling products, but solutions that helped each person who walked through the door. No matter where they were on their archery journey, Kelly looked over the products on-hand, while also making sure that all the ranges and leagues were running smoothly. However, Vern was the Rock Star. He was truly a genius when it came to running the shop and helping archers shoot better. As a board member of the State of Michigan Archers Association and the President of Local Chapter All Seasons Archers Club, his commitment to archery was truly impressive.
Sadly, Vern passed away in May of 2017. While Vern is no longer with us physically, his spirit still holds strong, and for that we are thankful. All you need to know about Vern can be explained in his own quote:
“Ask not what Archery can do for you, but what you can do for Archery”.
To this day, what he did for the sport of archery is not forgotten, nor will it ever be.
THE BIRTH OF SPYDERWEB TARGETS
It all started back in late 2005, at All Seasons Archery. We came across a major problem. In our commercial indoor range, our targets needed repairs. We decided to use a mesh-like material, similar to our present-day, Spylar™ Mesh. Though it was not the same, we used what we had been given, a scrap material from our supplier who had a connection with a local manufacturer. Come to find out, the source of the mesh moved to China :(
That is when we started the search, to see if we could find a source that held something similar for us. Something made for Archery Targets. Our focus was on a material that had outstanding durability and was made in the USA. We tested materials from 10-15 different manufacturers. Sadly, none of them did anything that aligned with our standard. However, one company collaborated with us on creating a material that was specifically designed for archery and it would be made in the USA. After a great deal of testing and trials, we now had the design of what is our Spylar™ Mesh today.
Great, but now we had to invest into 2000 yards of Spylar™ Mesh as an opening order. Scary for sure. We just wanted to repair our range targets, but now we are entering a whole new arena. But, having run a range for nearly five years, we felt confident in making a range target that would be far better than anything on the market. We also tested building portable targets for our local customers, which they absolutely loved. So in 2007, we launched SpyderWeb Targets officially at the Archery Trade Association Show in Atlanta.
It has been quite the journey of trial and error, but we have persevered through the challenges. To this day, we continue to make adjustments to our designs to stay ahead of technology. The only thing that remains the same is our Spylar™ Mesh. That is the secret sauce, and without it, we would not be doing this.
THE SPYDERWEB EXPERIENCE
DO ONE THING WELL.
We make Spylar™ Mesh targets. That’s it. Nothing else. We don’t make bag targets. We don't make foam block targets. Nor do we make 3D targets. We are not kidding ourselves into thinking we can be good at everything. There is plenty of products we could offer, but that's not who we are. We're not here to conquer the world. We just want to do our best to conquer a bit of it.
OUR PROMISE TO YOU
As a team, we subscribe to the Platinum Rule. You may have heard of the Golden Rule; "Treat people how you want to be treated". The Platinum Rule is, "treat people the way they want to be treated".
We know you have spent a great deal of time, effort and money getting to where you are today. So we will make every effort to guide you along in deciding what works best for you. Also, we will make every effort to tell you if we don’t have a solution on-hand that works for you. It would be completely dishonest to you to do otherwise.
We promise to make every attempt to answer any questions that come up. If you can’t find any answers you are looking for, please feel free to call us at 269-982-8003, or email me at: kelly@spyderwebtargets.net
Yes, we are a target company, but most importantly ⎯ We are here to help you.
Kelly Branch
President of SpyderWeb® Targets