BizBeat: Missouri Valley Archery passes bow to new owners

Jenna Kieser/News Tribune
Callie Garrett-Cooper sits on a 3D archery target as employee Jeff Bexten pulls an arrow out of the target on Friday at Missouri Valley Archery. Garrett-Cooper owns the store with her mom, Shannan. Together, the pair run the store and host 3D archery shoots every Friday night.
Jenna Kieser/News Tribune Callie Garrett-Cooper sits on a 3D archery target as employee Jeff Bexten pulls an arrow out of the target on Friday at Missouri Valley Archery. Garrett-Cooper owns the store with her mom, Shannan. Together, the pair run the store and host 3D archery shoots every Friday night.

The new owners of a Jefferson City outdoors and sporting goods store want to keep family at the heart of the business.

Mother and daughter Shannan and Callie Garrett-Cooper reopened Missouri Valley Archery and Outdoors on March 2 after purchasing it from Roger and Margie Haslag late last year.

"It went from their family to our family," Callie Garrett-Cooper said. " We just wanted to keep it nice, family-friendly and keep the heart of what they had started. We wanted to grow it and make a few changes, but keep it Missouri Valley."

The Garrett-Coopers had been longtime customers of the store, which the Haslags founded in 2006. The 2436 Missouri Blvd. store initially debuted as a second location to the Haslags' original store on Marina Road, just outside Jefferson City off U.S. 50/63.

The new owners, who live in Ashland, plan to keep selling the same favorite brands regular customers expect, such as Carhartt apparel, Muck Boots and several lines of hunting bows.

They also have some additions in store, from new brands (Dryshod waterproof boots and customizable Obsession hunting bows, among them) to entirely new groups of customers served - soon law enforcement professionals and equestrians can expect to find specialized clothing and equipment at Missouri Valley that they previously could only get online.

The store's new offerings won't upstage its original focus on outdoor sporting goods, though.

"Turkey season is right around the corner, so we've got all of our turkey decoys all sitting out on the floor and ready to go," Garrett-Cooper said. "We've also expanded the camping section of the store."

That means a wider array of Coleman brand items and Lodge cast iron cookware, along with more fly rods and bowfishing equipment for avid anglers.

Maybe the most notable changes for Missouri Valley have been made to its indoor archery range.

"We moved the targets from the back wall to the far side of the building, so now, instead of having 20 yards, we have 30," Garrett-Cooper said. " The 3-D targets that we have, some of them you just never see at indoor shoots. They're very big; they're very different. You'll typically see them at the big outdoor 3-D shoots."

Missouri Valley now hosts 3-D archery shoots every Friday at 3 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. For $10 per person per shoot, participants have a chance at an 80 percent payback for winning the top spot.

"Our first night, we had about 35 people show up, and our numbers have been growing since," Garrett-Cooper said.

In addition to other specialized shoots on Thursdays and Saturdays, Missouri Valley will add a children's 3-D shoot in April.

New operating hours for Missouri Valley Archery and Outdoors are 10 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays. The store is closed Sundays.

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