Cornhole Biz Gets In The Game

Jim Gifford and Heather Jensen pose with Gifford’s cornhole boards last week at his new shop, Kornies. The Harrisonburg business is set to open around Feb. 1 in a multiuse facility at 1090 Virginia Ave. (Photos by Michael Reilly / DN-R)

Jayne Lafreniere and Danny Sligh of Broadway, owners of Two Guys Signs, are opening a second location for their promotions and graphic design company in the same space as the cornhole board shop.

Jim Gifford and Heather Jensen examine boards with three- dimensional graphics of John Wayne at Kornies on Virginia Avenue in Harrisonburg.

HARRISONBURG — When John Wayne was alive, he never took the pummeling that Jim Gifford puts the late actor through these days.

And he unleashes that punishment in style.

Gifford, 52, enjoys playing on his custom-made cornhole boards, which feature a three-dimensional graphic of Wayne and lettering with the actor’s nickname, “The Duke.”

“You don’t find these [anywhere],” he said.

But Gifford wants to change that.

Kornies, a custom game board shop at 1090 Virginia Ave., will open around Feb. 1 with Gifford as its owner. If you have a picture or a graphic you want planted on a set of the wooden cornhole playing boards, he will make it happen — and add custom bags, a score sheet and a distance rope to boot.

“They walk out that door happy,” Gifford said. “Then I’m happy.”

The cost will be between $250 and $300. Plain boards and bags retail for about $150.

Cornhole, also referred to as beanbag toss, is an increasingly popular game played at sporting event tailgates and in backyards. Two sets of angled boards sit 27 feet apart. Players toss bags filled with corn kernels, trying to get them through a hole on top of the board either on the fly or by landing the bags on the board with enough velocity to slide into the hole.

What people do not see when they play, at least in the Valley, are boards with the custom graphic designs Gifford can offer, he said. They will be built on-site and take no more than 10 days to finish.

The business will also eventually offer custom-designed pieces for other backyard games and beer pong, a drinking game popular among college students.

Multiuse Facility

The 4,000-square-foot building in which Kornies occupies a small amount of space will have several businesses in operation. Two Guys Signs, a promotions and graphic design company in Broadway, will open its second location in the same room as the game shop.

Owners Danny Sligh and Jayne Lafreniere say they envision helping Gifford with his business as he receives orders.

Two Guys Signs specializes in outfitting cars with graphics, but also produces promotional items and social media maintenance for businesses.

Also planned for the building are a tobacco and novelty store, barbershop and antiques store.

Heather Jensen, who owns TNT Concrete in Augusta County, has worked to get all of the businesses into the building, with a target date of Feb. 1 for all to open. She expects as many as 15 employees will work at the site.

“We’re all family in this building,” Jensen said.

Gifford is an electrical contractor who came to the area to work on the new Western State Hospital in Staunton. The construction project is about a year from completion, he said.

Jensen hopes Kornies is around much longer than that. Gifford says the community will feel the same: He wants to become a member of the American Cornhole Association and host national tournaments, which can attract hundreds of players to the city and boast payouts of up to $50,000.

“It’s unheard of,” he said.

Jensen said about a year of research went into Kornies as she persuaded Gifford to turn his hobby into a side business.

“It was fun for us,” she said.

Contact Preston Knight at 574-6272 or pknight@dnronline.com