Jim Beasley lives in Holly with his wife Bibi and Lula their rat terrier. I have lived in Holly since 1986 and love the small town, as well as all the people in the area I have met since opening a store front in 2005.
Spot Shooter Archery started out of a small bedroom in my basement in 2002 with zero business experience, but with a huge love of archery. With a peg board on the wall and a small work bench, I was open for customers. I put fliers on local pegboards and at archery clubs in the area and slowly began obtaining customers. The only access to the store bedroom was to walk through the house and into the 10 foot by 14 foot room. Our hours were after 4:30pm when I arrived home from my GM job one hour away. Within two years, I remodeled the basement store with a doorbell and a larger area with a direct store walk-in. Sometimes that doorbell would ring at 10:00pm. I sold products displayed on the home-made pegboards at local archery clubs that took 5 hours to set up. Having my old trailer over packed with products to the show, reminded me of Sanford and Son with their old truck overloaded with merchandise. It was obvious that I needed help. So, I started team Spot Shooter.
Team Spot Shooter Members get discounts and perks from the store. In return they help at events and promote our store at competitions and archery events. Today we have around 20 Team Spot Shooter members who have become great friends over the years. Many are national champions.
My 30th year with General Motors was in 2006. With the advice of friends who were successful business owners, I opened a small storefront in Holly. I would work in Detroit until 3:00pm and drive an hour to the store to help my one employee finish off the day. Within 6 months, I retired from GM. For the first time in the 20 years that I lived in Holly, I finally was able to experience what their small town was all about. The local business owners, customers and the people in the area have made this a rewarding endeavor.
We started helping local archery clubs by donating prizes and selling targets, as well as merchandise at cost and in return they referred members to us for their archery needs. We acquired 3 major bow lines in our store and began to expand our customer base. When the new Michigan hunting regulations took effect on crossbows, we expanded our product line to crossbows and crossbow accessories. Another product line that evolved and continues to grow is our Killer Beez archery products.
In our first 10 years in business we have expanded 5 times. We now occupy ¾ of Lowe’s plaza and have a 16 foot Team Spot Shooter trailer/traveling archery store that we take to many shows throughout Michigan to sell our products. No more Sanford and Son.
One year after our latest expansion, we opened Bibi’s Bait and Tackle store located in a section of our store. We are the only bait shop in the area opening at 6:00am, 7 days a week. My wife Bibi is there every morning with her friendly greetings to her many customers.
I picked up my first bow in 1993 and my love for this sport continues to grow even after 20 years. Despite not starting to shoot a bow until age 35, I have gradually expanded my accomplishments to date:
-29 time state champion
-2 time national champion
-7 state records
-3 national records
-several regional and sectional wins
-I have been to Lake Placid, New York at the Olympic training center for my level 3 coaching certification
-Been coached by Terry Wunderle, world renowned coach.
My life has not been perfect, but I am still blessed to have family, friends, good health, a successful business and a close relationship with God.
I ask for you to like us on Facebook, check out our website www.spotshooterarchery.com and just stop by and say hello when you are in the area. I am Jim Beasley, owner of Spot Shooter Archery and Killer Beez Archery Products.