A cathartic way to relieve stress and let off steam after a hard week at work or school is coming to Cambridge in a smashing way this weekend.
Wreck-it Room Canada, located at 978 Bishop St. N., opens Saturday, Feb. 18 and looks to be the only business in Waterloo region where it's not only okay to smash a big screen tv with a baseball bat, it's encouraged.
"We've been working on this for about a year," said owner Nicole Teet. "We actually travelled all the way to Ottawa just to visit one of these rooms and get a good feel for how one should be set up."
Complete with VHS tapes, computer monitors and of course as much glassware as one could break, Teet is hoping her business will be a big hit as set up is nearly complete.
"Have you ever been on your phone and get mad and want to smash it, but you can't?" asked Teet. "I have about 500 phones in the back ready to go."
Teet has been a stay-at-home mom for the past five years and felt like she needed to do something to help get her out of the house and earn a bit of extra money. She heard from her friends about Rage Rooms in Toronto, where you can go in a safe space and let out all your frustrations.
"I'm not an angry person at all," said Teet. "But when you're in one of these rooms and everything is breakable it definitely helps let off some steam."
Right next door to Wreck-it Room is Teet's husband Clayton; he owns Smart Choice Electronic Recycling. This gives Teet a nearly endless supply of computer monitors, phones and anything that walks through the door.
"The good thing about it is we get all of this amazing stuff to break, but when were done it is 100 per cent properly recycled," she added.
For the next couple of weeks, Wreck-it Room will be in trial and error mode; figuring out what works and what doesn't, what they can add and what they can get rid of.
One of the things Teet said customers have already asked, is whether they can drink while in the room. The answer is a hard no.
"In our waiver, we have a part that says, are you drunk?, we can't have that here, we don't have a liquor license," added Teet. "Maybe in the future if we can figure that out, but that is a long way out."
With Rhythm and Brews right next door, Teet recommends customers go there after breaking some stuff and continue to enjoy their night.
With social media already a buzz from Wreck-it Rooms' announcement, Teet advises anyone looking to get in soon should book it now as she thinks her schedule will fill up fast.
"We can't wait to get the doors open and start welcoming people, we got our bats, hockey sticks and of course safety gear, so let's start breaking stuff."
