How a Lebanon business went from archery range to nerf gun wars

When Forrest Hoffert first bought the warehouse property at 2 E. Lehman St. Suite 1, it was to be used as extra space for his glass company, H&M Glass, only a few miles down the road.

With 70,000 square feet of space, and not being able store glass and aluminum in the basement, Hoffert decided to use that part of the building to give back to his employees.

“I’m a big bow hunter and stuff like that so I said I’d put a range in just for my employees,” he said. “Well, that got out pretty fast, and before I knew it everyone was saying make a business, you know, have it open to the public.”

So that’s what he did, opening Lebanon Indoor Archery and Supplies, starting off with just the 3D range, where anyone could come in and shoot for a fee. Over time, he expanded the basement space to include two shorter paper ranges, two virtual ranges, a retail space and additional targets at the 3D range, including a giant sasquatch.

Employees of his glass business get free memberships to the range, staying true to Hoffert’s original vision.

The store also holds professional tournaments and trains people of any age and any skill level to use the bow.

On Feb. 18 and 19, they were the home of the Pennsylvania Scholastic 3-D Archery indoor championship, where around 350 young people competed.

Early on, Hoffert brought in Larry Miller, who has spent decades in the archery world as a competitor and coach, to run the day-to-day operation of the store. While they’re looking to hire someone as a cashier, Miller handles everything in the store from sales, repairs and training.

What has been special about the store, what’s made it different from most others, is the amount of space that they must work with and what that grants them.

"I love what I do," Miller said, "I think it's awesome. I think it's fantastic we have something like this. With everything here, I've shot all over the country and I've been to a lot of different shops and stuff like that, and I've never been to a shop that has everything in house like we have here. So we're really really fortunate on that end."

Most places, Miller said, have one, maybe two ranges, and if someone is taking a lesson or there's a tournament going on, people looking to shoot might not be able to.

But with five different kinds of bow ranges, they're able to have plenty going on without much overlap.

Hoffert said that this is part of what brings people to his store. People from as far as upstate New York will travel to Lebanon just to shoot at their range and take classes.

“I’m big on the actual activity of shooting,” Hoffert said. “There’s a lot of people out there that have retail in some fashion. I want to focus on the fact that you can come here, bring a bow, or come here and buy a bow and go right to shooting. They don’t have to wait and try and find a place to shoot.”

Since opening, they’ve expanded even further, creating more retail space in its ground floor with hopes to begin selling equipment for other outdoor activities.

Another thing that’s been added in the last year is their Milo Range Simulator, a state-of-the-art shooting simulator that, while can be used as a sort of game, is used to train military and police forces in live-fire exercises with over 800 unique simulations. It can also be used to teach younger people or those with little experience with firearms on how to safely handle one.

The simulator can use real decommissioned guns fitted with a Co2 cartridge to replicate the feel of a real firearm.

Hoffert, with the help of Miller, has built the store to what it is now in just over two years using the spare time he has after running his glass company and his own personal money. Why? Because he likes it.

The Battle Room and what’s next for Lebanon Indoor Archery and Supplies

Aside from a few electrical fixtures, lights, and fog machines for ambiance, Hoffert’s newest edition, the Battle Room, is up and ready to go.

For whole parties or two people, the battle room is for what else? Battle.

Offering nerf, airsoft, archery and splatter ball for varying per house and rental prices customers can shoot at each other with various projectiles to their heart content while taking cover behind blue barrels.

Depending on the activity, it can cost $12-$20 and hour per person and $8-10 for equipment rentals with group pricing depending on the size and amount of time.

Right now, they are researching and acquiring the right style of airsoft guns for their purposes. Those interested in the activity have to bring their own equipment.

Hoffert said that they have already had groups come in to use the Battle Room, including an entire karate class who brought in a lot of their own nerf guns and a father and son, who ran around the room just shooting at each other for a few hours.

They also have a local business planning to come in as a group for a team building exercise, utilizing both the battle room and the Milo Simulator.

Hoffert already has a vision for the next expansions of the business, which include a BB gun shooting range, axe throwing, golf simulators, expanded retail and even a rage room, a room filled with breakable objects, like glass, where customers would come in to break and smash.

He is also currently looking into getting their license to buy and sell firearms and while he has given the idea a great amount of thought, has no plans to build an indoor firing range at the moment.

Daniel Larlham Jr. is a reporter for the Lebanon Daily News. Reach him at DLarlham@LDNews.com or on Twitter @djlarlham

This article originally appeared on Lebanon Daily News: Lebanon Indoor Archery: shoot your friends in newly opened battle room