From Airsoft Players to an Airsoft Business
If I wanted to summarize the history quickly, the highlight would look like this: I had an idea at Carls Junior, started selling guns out of the back of my car, moved to a store location, and the rest was history. It sounds simple and poetic, but not quite the whole picture. The reality is that what you see today at Fox Airsoft was ten years in the making.
It started with a passion - I love to play airsoft - especially large-scale events. There's something special that comes from participating in a weekend-long event and having multiple challenges thrown at you. Now that I've expressed that passion, I'm going to do something I promised I would never do...
I included a picture below of little Matt at his first major operation in the year 2000. The name of the event was Airsoft 2000, or AS2K for short. It was one of the largest national events at the time - we had about 100 people from all over the country come to play this multi-day event.
The guys from Fox at Operation Airsoft 2000 (AS2K) - this was their first National Multi-Day Event
This event gave me a solid desire to pursue these types of games in the future. They brought such a level of challenge and satisfaction that I attended many more over the next few years. Some of the major events at the time were Iron Angel, Crimson Dunes, and Hac Bao. Hac Bao 2 was a turning point - it was our first exposure to the Operation Lion Claws series events. This set the tone for the next decade - over that time, we participated in over 40 national and international multi-day events.
The guys from Fox at Operation Hac Bao 2.5 in 2005
Now, on to the creation of Fox Airsoft...
My teammates and I had just finished playing our weekly Saturday game and were sitting down in Carl's Junior having lunch when we had the brilliant idea to start an airsoft business. That's all of the thought that was put into it at the time - I wish there was more, but that was the beginning.
Fox Airsoft operating out of the back of a Jeep at a local game in 2006 - this was our first shop
We decided to pool together some money and begin selling equipment at some of the local games we hosted in Colorado - we started in the back of a Jeep. We made some makeshift retail display stands to display the products. This is how it all began, and this is where we started our long journey of learning how to do this well. In my next article, Part 2, I'll talk about the early years of a shop and some of our challenges.
Click Here to See History of Fox Part 2
About the Author:
Matt is one of the owners of Fox Airsoft and actively participates in national and international airsoft operations. He also enjoys flying, running, hiking, and doing anything that challenges him personally.
