BOISE, IDAHO — Now more than ever, we all just need to blow off a little steam every now and then. And while some enjoy calming practices like yoga or meditation, some like to literally go the complete opposite direction with their best imitation of the Incredible Hulk.
Axe throwing businesses are great, but sometimes, it might just not bring out your inner barbarian quite enough. That's where rage rooms come in.
"You get to your room, you take out all your aggression, stress, and any feelings you have on any bottles, plates, printers, microwaves, flat screen tv's, anything you've wanted to break but you're not allowed to break," said Ragers Smash and Axe Co-Owner/Operator Dylan Stimpson.
Axe throwing and rage rooms. That's what you'll find at Ragers Smash and Axe in Boise, an idea that this father and son team felt they needed to bring to the Treasure Valley after smashing a few things at a similar establishment in Vegas two years ago.
"Had a blast. We knew we had to bring it to the area. So flying back, Dylan and I started talking about how we're going to do it, where we're gonna go, two weeks later, covid hit, and then as things started to clear up again, we started picking back up again looking for a space," said Ragers Smash and Axe Co-Owner Scott Stimpson.
Once they found their spot, it was time to build, and with a background in construction, they didn't need a lot of help.
"We did it all basically ourselves. I'd say 90% of the things here are from us. Besides the specialty traits, we did on our own. Just us two. Had friends on the first day help pull up some carpet and then realized it's not fun, and then they never showed up again," said Dylan.
When you enter one of their four rage rooms and start smashing plates, tv's, computers, and who knows what else, a small percentage of you might wonder where all this stuff came from.
"We have donation centers, and this is all stuff that's destined for the landfill, these are items that don't sell, that are broken, that they can't use, and they end up giving it, not giving it but we end up buying them at a discount and use them here. They still end up going to the landfill but just in a much different shape," said Scott.
And as you're hulking out, you probably won't even stop to think about if they're being environmentally friendly.
"The metals and the plastics and the circuit boards, and everything kind of is able to get separated for the most part that we can take apart and recycle what can be recycled and throw away what has to be thrown away rather than just trashing it all," said Dylan.
Ragers is now just over a year old, and they've seen and hosted all kinds of different people and events, including several corporate events.
"A lot of people found out a lot of stuff about their coworkers. They'll watch through the windows and go I had no idea why Bill had so much pent up anger," laughed Scott.
But in the end, it's all about family for this Made in Idaho business, and the Idaho-raised father and son couldn't be prouder to have started Ragers here in the Treasure Valley.
"It's a lot of people's hopes and desires to start a business with their child, and having this venue and Dylan, who's so excited about running it and getting better at it and expanding the business, it's pretty cool," smiled Scott.
Scott and Dylan describe Ragers Smash and Axe as "7800 square feet of fun," and always look forward to hosting big events there so friends and coworkers can see each other's true colors. For more information on them, check out their website at www.ragerssna.com.
