A dart shop in Haresfinch has moved to St. Helens town centre after it became apparent that it was too small to suit the needs of its customers.
The St Helens Dart Shop Megastore has been a pillar of the local darts community for the past 21 years and has been associated with big names in the sport from Luke Littler to Stephen Bunting.
Darts as a sport has skyrocketed in popularity ever since Luke Littler shocked the world after making it to the final of the 2024 World Darts Championship on debut.
According to Sky Sports , a record audience of over 4.8m people tuned in to watch the 2023/24 World Darts Championship final with Luke Littler and Luke Humphries.
This growth of popularity in the sport has prompted founder of the shop, Karl Holden, to make the decision to relocate.
He said: “The last five years since lockdown and obviously Mike Smith winning the World Championships increased trade a bit.
“We was just getting a little bit too busy there in peak season which normally lasts two months maybe, but obviously with more people playing darts and Luke Littler’s probably got three times more people playing.
“There wasn’t room for three times more customers. So, we thought we have to get out of here.”
Mr. Holden has also been a key part of the St. Helens Darts Academy since it was founded in 2013. The academy is Elite 1 affiliated and has been involved in the development of Luke Littler.
“We’ve probably been the most successful darts academy in the world. But there are 16 committee members not just myself who’ve done a good job all these years.
“We’ve produced Eleanor Cairns, she was a World Youth Champion, and we have got more kids coming through. We have one or two who are getting to the PDC standard and they’re only 16.
“We’ve got 150 kids playing darts in this town and nearly 200 on the waiting list. The demand is huge, especially round here”.
Featured image by Benjamin Humphris.
