“Preston is a hot bed of darts": the city's first darts shop & community hub is opening this weekend

Red Rose Darts Limited, who trade under the name Darts Team, has been an online dart shop since 2022, routinely hosting pop up ‘try before you buy’ sessions at venues across the North West.

The idea to set up a ‘try before you buy’ darts retailer came to owner Steven Eaves- a Preston dad of two- when his youngest son, who was seven at the time, bought some darts online but never used them as he discovered he didn't like them.

After three years of successful business, 45-year-old Steve is preparing to open Red Rose Dart’s first permanent base this Saturday, this time inspired by a different youngster - Luke Littler.

He explained: “18 months ago, Luke Littler came on the scene. He's brought a whole new generation of people to darts, and the sport has gone crazy over the last 18 months in terms of growth, and we've naturally grown alongside it, and this is the right time now to get a permanent base in our home city.”

Located in Preston Grasshoppers Rugby Club, ‘Darts Team’ is to be Preston’s only dart shop and community hub.

As well as the shop, which has its grand opening at 9am on Saturday, there will be four professional dart lanes containing in-built automatic scoring systems that are available to hire.

These lanes can be booked out by anyone interested in playing some darts with friends- although full venue hire for parties will also be available- whilst drinks and snacks can be purchased from the rugby club to enjoy whilst playing.

Dedicated dart sessions will then be held for select groups such as retired people, young people and adults with special educational needs.

Steven, himself a keen dart player, said: “Our aim is to create a welcoming and supportive place for people who love darts.

“Our shop will have over 1000 sets of darts and a huge range of accessories, flights, shafts, cases and equipment, and people can come and try things out, and we'll be on hand to give guidance and advice.

“But at the same time, we want to create something that really benefits the community, that is more than just a shop. So we want to create an inclusive space where people can come and play outside of a shop setting, if you will.”

A professionally qualified darts coach, Steven will also set up a brand new youth darts academy at the venue, for up to 24 young darts players, with weekly sessions and regular tournaments.

“Preston is a hot bed of darts and we are excited to give young people from Preston an opportunity to develop and realise their darting dreams”, he says.

Continuing their aim of fostering young talent, Darts Team will host dedicated darts themed maths sessions for schools across the Preston area.

In the future, Steven is also looking to run positive mental health sessions with charities from across the city, recognising that a lot of people play darts as a way to improve their mental health.

Asked why the people of Preston should come check Darts Team out when it opens, Steven said: “We've been running a business for three or four years, and really understand what people need and what they want and the support they require when they're going out to choose a set of darts. Through that experience, we can really help and guide people. I'm a professionally qualified darts coach, and again, that gives me the experience and the ability to help people and to see how they're throwing and make sure that when they're spending their money with us, they're getting the best products for them, and we have the biggest range of products in the whole of Lancashire.”

Steven then added: “I was born and bred in Preston- I actually live around the corner from Preston Grasshoppers. So yeah, I’m very proud to be from the city, and it's why I want to create something which is more than just a shop. I use the words community hub because that's very much part of it, we want to be part of the community and be welcoming to everybody who wants to come and play darts”

The Darts Team shop is open 10am to 4:30pm Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 10:00am to 18:30pm on Thursdaya, 9:00am to 4:30pm on Saturdaya and 9:00am to 2:30pm n Sundays.

Lanes can then be booked 5pm to 8:00pm Wednesday and Saturday, 7:00pm to 9:00pm Thursdays, 5pm to 9:00pm Fridays and 3:000pm to 7:00pm Sundays.