Feeling stressed? New business invites you to smash and destroy things for fun
Published at | Updated at
IDAHO FALLS – A new business in Idaho Falls offers customers a unique amusement activity and the owners are inviting you to give it a try.
It’s called Smash In Therapy and it opens Jan. 8 in the old cheese factory at 755 South Capital Avenue.
“It’s a place where you can come let out your frustrations and have a good time in a safe environment,” Thomas Ramirez, one of the business partners, tells EastIdahoNews.com.
It involves paying a fee to come and smash something for fun. Customers can use a baseball bat, golf club, sledge hammer, tennis racket or other object to beat on anything from an old washer, dryer, computer or TV to a car. Secondhand stores in the area help provide equipment for customers to demolish.
“A lot of stuff that they can’t sell … has been donated,” says Ramirez. “Recyclers are giving us a lot of their printers, monitors and keyboards. We’ve been blessed to have the community help us out.”
Sessions last anywhere from 20-30 minutes. There are five different rooms available, including two different rage rooms, a demolition room and a riot and rampage room.
Though the rooms are different, they’re used for the same thing. It just depends on whether you’re coming alone or with a group.
“We understand that there’s a lot of frustration out there with some people taking things out on others that they shouldn’t. We want to make this a place where you can come vent or just have fun,” says Steven Garcia, another business partner.
EastIdahoNews.com was invited to give it a try, which you can see in the video player above.
Garcia and Ramirez say the COVID-19 pandemic has been a stressful time for many people in the community and the idea behind the business is to give people a healthy outlet.
“Teachers, nurses, police officers — anyone who’s stressed out during this time (is welcome to give it a try),” says Ramirez.
Ramirez says it’s also helpful for anyone struggling with anger management or similar problems.
“I struggled with anger management back in the day and coming here to beat some of this stuff is relaxing. It feels good. You walk away and it’s like you left something behind. You walk out a new person,” he says.
Garcia first became aware of this type of business while watching something about the Kardashians on TV. He later learned there were similar types of businesses called rage rooms in surrounding states. Opening this type of business in Idaho Falls just seemed like a good fit, he says.
The building’s industrial warehouse look and its proximity to the river made it an appealing location.
“It just looks like a place where you’d destroy something,” Garcia says.
The 6,500-square-foot building operated as a cheese factory for many years. The new owners aren’t sure exactly when it closed down, but they estimate sometime in the 1990s. It sat vacant for many years before Vintage Emporium, a furniture and home decor co-op, acquired it. It closed about three years ago.
Garcia and Ramirez are looking to add themed rooms in the future, as well as a paint room where families can come and “get crazy and messy.” They’d also like to open another location.
For now, they’re just excited to get up and running and see how customers respond.
“COVID put a lot of stress on the community with people being cooped up in the house and having restrictions on what they can do. We wanted to help our community,” Garcia says. “We want this to be an outlet where people can come and enjoy themselves.”
Smash In Therapy will be open 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday and 1 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday. It will also be open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Visit the website or Facebook page for more information.