Rusted Arrow Outdoors: A Local Blend for Anyone and Everyone

“There’s not a lot of places you can go where you can see firearms, gifts, and boutique clothing in the same place.” -Patrick Wayner, Owner

Rusted Arrow Outdoors, located behind Captain D’s in Fort Payne, is one of those select places. There you can find a large selection of firearms, kayaks, candles, coolers, cups, candles, clothing, and more. For Patrick Wayner and his wife Laura, this unique aspect of their business is exactly what they were going for. Patrick describes Rusted Arrow as “a hometown store for both him and her.” They wanted to find a place where both women and men, husbands and wives, can find something that interests them, and they have undoubtedly done so.

Rusted Arrow Outdoors has its roots in February of 2015, when Laura opened The Picket Fence in the same location. The Picket Fence sold gifts and clothing, but both Laura and Patrick felt like something was missing, Patrick explains:

“We thought no one really has anything where men and women can both look in the same store and everybody’s happy, so we decided to add some sporting goods items that I could handle and make it a place where anyone could shop. We changed The Picket Fence over to Rusted Arrow in February of 2016.”

There is no guarantee of success in business, but launching into the uncertain venture of running a small business together was a perfect fit for the pair, says Patrick:

“I’ve always been into shooting sports and kayaking, and my wife has always had a real good business mind on her too. We were excited about being our own bosses and being able to pick the products that would fit the town the best.”

According to Patrick, the day to day task of running a small business is something you can’t do halfheartedly. He says that each day at the store they strive to go that extra mile to make sure that each and every person that walks through their door leaves happy and satisfied, and during the hours when the store is closed they are constantly on the lookout for new items that people are interested in.

“Our most important thing is making sure everyone’s happy, and we’re not happy unless the customer is happy. We try to keep the prices fair and stay on top of the trends and the items people are looking for.”

Even when small business owners work tirelessly to make their place great, they still inevitably face a number of challenges, not the least of which is reaching out to people and letting them know why they should shop with them, explains Patrick:

“The biggest challenge we face is getting the word out about us, about our competitive prices, and about all the extra services we offer when compared to the big boxes, such as scope mounting, bore sighting, and troubleshooting. If someone has a problem with their firearm, we can find someone that can fix the problem if we don’t.”

Patrick and Laura are both from Northeast Alabama (he from Fort Payne and she from Scottsboro) They both have skin in the game in making our area great, and that’s a big part of what they want to help accomplish by running a small business. Patrick explains why it’s so important to shop locally:

“Supporting local businesses in your community helps people send their kids to school and keep a roof over their heads, all while you get a level of personal services that you may not find anywhere else. Small businesses are very important to the community. They keep the money here in town and you get to deal with people on a face-to-face basis.”

You can use the Native Rewards app to support the local small business community. You get great deals and a chance to win money every time you shop with local businesses like Rusted Arrow!