One of Golden’s newest and most unique businesses has gone through a recent transformation. The Crooked Antler closed its doors temporarily and reworked the shop to give it a little more focus, and cut back on any confusion its patrons may have had.
“We put the wall up. And we are doing strictly photography back here now. We’re still offering printing services, so we have printing and photography, as well as studio work,” said Jeremy Borschneck, the Crooked Antler’s co-owner.
“We always did the freelance photography and weddings, but that’s our main focus now. So no more live music, no more cafe, no more vintage decor, or whatever else we had going on,” said Jan Kotyk, Borschneck’s partner.
A couple of weeks ago, the pair decided that the store would benefit from a more narrow focus, so they shut the doors and began the renovations themselves.
“We were spreading our energy out in so many different directions that we were doing everything good. But now we’ll be able to focus and do the photography and printing really well,” said Kotyk.
With so many different specialties, Borschneck and Kotyk worried that it may have caused some confusion as to what the Crooked Antler really was.
“I think the issue we had before is that people would walk in and be so confused, they didn’t really know what was going on in here, and then they’d just turn around and walk out. So we’re just making it so it makes more sense,” said Borschneck. “I think before it was a bit confusing when there was a band playing, and we had a photography studio in the back, and it was just all over the place.”
The Antler is now the only place in Golden with a complete studio, which means they are able to shoot family portraits, band photos, and just about anything a customer could need.
“We were doing weddings this summer, and we’ve already got a few booked for this year, so we’re going to be doing that. And the printing has been really good for us in the community. So we really wanted to focus on that too,” said Borschneck.
They are currently getting a new printer, which will allow them to offer more sizes on the printing side of things.
The Antler had specialized in enlargements, but were having difficulty accommodating request for smaller photographs.
“So now we’ll be doing anywhere from 4×6 to 40×60 essentially,” said Borschneck.
The Crooked Antler officially re-opened on Monday Feb. 13.
