HADLEY — As a client loads an arrow onto a bow and prepares to shoot it toward a target about 30 yards away, North East Archery Supply Co. owner Joshua Gray offers advice on how to make the shot as accurate as possible.

After Sam Medina gets instructions on the correct form for using the equipment, he lets the arrow fly from the bow, causing a soft thud to sound in the distance.

“I really like it,” says Medina, of Amherst, who has become a regular at practicing his marksmanship at the new archery range and supply store at Hampshire Mall on Route 9. “I’ve been coming here to practice a bit.”

Red lines on the floor mark distances of 10, 20 and 30 yards from the targets, with wooden bow racks and arrow holders positioned nearby at the largest privately run indoor range of its kind in the region, which opened this summer.

Just off Cafe Square, and using the space where the Pinz arcade and bowling alley had been located, the store is divided between the range and a shop with a variety of bows and arrows for sale, and an area where Gray can do custom work on both the bows and arrows, from making repairs to doing modifications.

Gray, a Conway resident, said he began the process of opening the store about 18 months ago. He found the mall space ideal, with the former bowling alley lanes converted into a range that can accommodate 24 people at a time.

Gray said he wants everybody to come and learn more about the sport, whether they are active hunters or just people who want to get better at target practice.

Those who come for the range can do one-time shooting, or get memberships, with the rates being $15 an hour, $45 for a month and $250 for a year. There is also a family rate of $200 for six months and $350 for the full year.

While most visible is the shooting range, with large windows allowing people passing by in the main mall corridor to become spectators, Gray also wants people to drop into the shop for the growing line of products he offers.

That is where people, especially those just starting out, can learn more about bows, and find bows they can try out. “You can get a good feel for it just shooting it a short distance,” Gray said.

The comfort for people using a bow, and the arrows they will place in it, is determined by the draw cycle, or the physical process of pulling the bow string back and the mechanical curve of effort required to do so.

“It’s all the preference of an individual,” Gray said. “I’ll be walking them through and steering them in the right direction.”

The bows he has available retail anywhere from $350 to $2,000. The arrow selections include brands Easton, Gold Tip and Victory, with different weights and stiffness.

At the work bench, Gray can add a new peep sight or adjust strings to a bow, and can cut the arrows and add broadheads, tips and fletchings.

The business is still a work in progress as he modifies the space. Some aspects of the former entertainment venue, such as the large walk-in cooler that was used for the bar at Pinz, remain in place, though Gray said he has no intent to use that.

After a career in the corporate world, this is the first time Gray is running his own business, and he hopes to find success that he can pass on to his two children.

“There’s nothing in western Mass like this,” Gray said.

But even though 45,000 bow-and-arrow hunters are licensed in Massachusetts, many likely in the western part of the state, he wasn’t able to secure a bank loan, instead turning to family for financing.

Gray said he is still bringing in product, having already sold half of the targets from his inventory.

While he has had a few repeat customers, Gray said that the first weekend he opened in June was when the Rinehart R100 archery event was taking place in Sturbridge, and the following weekend was Independence Day.

Archery deer hunting season begins in early October, so he expects that will be when people start finding the store. “Within the next two weeks people will be coming in,” Gray said.

North East Archery Supply is currently open Mondays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., though the hours are subject to change.