BOISE, Idaho — Like other businesses, 208 Discs has been forced to adapt, and was even forced to close--but the shop has been able to rebound thanks to some help.
The shop is one of the only disc golf shops in the entire valley, so when it was forced to close, the local disc golf community was crushed.
"It's a family-type community," explained the shop's owner, Jason Oxsen.
The shop has been around for nearly a decade--and with this past season came a surge of interest in the sport like Oxsen has never seen before. There was plenty of demand, but thanks to COVID there wasn't enough supply.
"People took up disc golf and it exploded last year," Oxsen said. "There's just only so much product out there... and a lot of us trying to get it."
Production issues across the country meant the shop's shelves were bare with no idea when they'd fill again.
That's why they were forced to close--but thankfully they had a little help with reopening.
"It's unprecedented, it's not anything we've dealt with before. It can definitely cause a bit of panic because it's not something we're used to adjusting to," Oxsen said. "It got a little tight in here so we just took a couple of weeks break, regrouped, sent some emails and made some phone calls, and made it happen--so here we are!"
Now, things are looking up--and the community has rallied to support them.
"Now that the season is here and we have a direct line of manufacturers, we're able to get a time frame of 'this is on the way, hang tight' everything looks good at this point," Oxsen said.
"It's an amazing community to be a part of and I'm grateful for the support."
The shop reopened just in time. The Treasure Valley Cup is the first big local disc golf tournament of the season, and it's slated to kick off toward the end of March.
To learn more about disc golf in Idaho, click here.
