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By LIZZIE BOWEN | Staff Writer

CALERA – Those interested in disc golf can now explore a new place to shop at Dynamic Discs Iron City as it made its recent debut in Calera Main Street.

Chris Pierce and Ben Swam are owners of Dynamic Discs Iron City, and Swam said that the first store was opened in January of 2021 in Homewood.

“About a year later, we started looking for some different areas in Alabama that had a good population of disc golfers and courses to go with that,” Swam said. “One of the things we try to do, is situate stores near disc golf courses.”

Swam said in April of 2022 the two began looking for different areas Dynamic Discs Iron City could expand in.

“Calera came up because of that fact it was just far away from Birmingham,” Swam said. “It wasn’t going to be getting the same customer base, and we knew how big the disc golf scene was growing in Shelby County. We just thought it was a good fit.”

Swam said he began talking with a friend of his in Calera who suggested meeting with Calera Mainstreet in order to talk about what options there were for Dynamic Discs Iron City to make its way to downtown Calera.

“It just kind of grew from there,” Swam said. “We are super excited with how it turned out.”

Swam and Pierce participated in Calera Main Street’s First Friday events last year and spoke with people in attendance about Dynamic Discs Iron City’s opening, further spreading the word.

“Pretty much from the moment we started letting people know we were coming to Calera it was a steady influx of, ‘Hey, when’s the new store opening? When’s the date?’ All that time there were people reaching out on Instagram,” Swam said. “So, people have been anxious about us getting there for quite a while.”

Swam said that for a time, him and Pierce were running stores out of their houses and that most disc golfers buy their products online. Swam said it is important to have a physical location where disc golfers can actually put their hands on the disk instead of just opting for online options.

“During the pandemic, disc golf got really popular,” Swam said. “It is not very expensive to get started, it’s outside and it’s kind of naturally socially distanced. Disc golf just exploded during the pandemic when everything shut down and people had to find a way to get out of the house.”

Swam said that it was the pandemic and the rising popularity of disc golf that prompted him to open Dynamic Discs Iron City.

“Chris and I just decided, we should do this now,” Swam said. “If it can’t work now, it’s never gonna work. We just kind of took a leap.”

Executive Director of Calera Main Street Jackie Batson said that reaction has been good for Dynamic Discs to come to downtown Calera.

“It is tremendous,” Batson said. “They have quite a following already. Their customers have been asking them constantly when it’s going to open. Their regulars have been following their growth.”

Batson said people have been traveling from all over to go to the Homewood location and that representatives of Mainstreet Calera are also excited to have them as a new addition.

“It makes a big difference to have one in the central Alabama area,” Batson said.

Those looking for more information can follow Dynamic Discs Iron city on social media at @Dyanmicsdiscsironcity.

For more information, visit them online at Dynamicdiscsironcity.com or their location at 8254 U.S. 31, Calera. They are open Sunday-Thursday from noon-5 p.m. and Friday-Saturday from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m.