WINSLOW — A car detailer by trade, Craig Stanton has a surprisingly reckless side hustle: Four months ago, he emptied his garage and turned it into central Maine’s first rage room.
Rage rooms are a growing global phenomenon that in recent years have been popping up in many American cities and towns.
They are open — often fortified — spaces in which people donning protective gear pay to smash things, taking sledgehammers and baseball bats to televisions, small appliances, ceramics and glass.
Many people find it a safe — albeit sweaty — way to work out feelings of stress and anger in a controlled environment.
Nick Haggan of Hampden carries an 8-pound sledgehammer used to demolish a television last Sunday while on a date with Cassidy Grindle at The Rage Room in Winslow. The two used baseball bats and hammers to smash televisions, printers, plates, wine glasses and other items during their visit to The Rage Room. The business opened Nov. 1. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel
Stanton, 47, opened The Rage Room LLC on Nov. 1 at 470 Cushman Road, four months after first hearing of the sensation on the social media platform TikTok. He said he believes it is the first rage room in central Maine.
Stanton and his co-worker, Monica Stanton, 38, who also happens to be Craig’s ex-wife and current co-parent, said they have had a steady stream of appointments and are already generating revenue. Most people who come to The Rage Room are looking for fun and a bit of a release, they said.
“People are so happy and relieved when they leave,” Monica Stanton said.
Craig Stanton added that those who use The Rage Room also get quite the workout.
“They leave soaked with sweat,” he said.
The Stantons said they do not ask questions or pass judgment on those who want to use The Rage Room.
Users must be older than 10, accompanied by an adult if younger than 18 and not overly aggressive or intoxicated — “We’d bounce them right out,” Monica Stanton said.
Essentially, anyone is welcome to come in and “rage out.” Reservations are recommended, but walk-ins are welcome.
When reserving The Rage Room, customers choose the experience they seek from a menu of options. Packages include telling names, such as “Solo Rage,” “Bad Date” and “BYO Breakables.”
Monica Stanton said the most popular option so far has been “Triad of Rage,” for which $105 buys up to three people 3o minutes in which they can smash 45 small or medium-size items, such printers, toaster ovens, mugs and vases and three large items, including televisions.
After arriving, customers suit up in protective headgear and cut-resistant gloves. The Stantons also recommend customers wear clothing that does not expose much skin and closed-toe shoes.
Once kitted up, customers select from a variety of “weapons,” including sledgehammers, field hockey sticks, baseball bats, tennis rackets, mallets and crowbars.
“We had golf clubs, too,” Craig Stanton said, gesturing to an empty space in the wall. “But our last session broke ’em.”
That is part of the fun in operating a business like The Rage Room, the Stantons said. When something breaks, even if equipment busts a hole in the ceiling, as was the case when a 6-foot-3-inch tall customer swung a sledgehammer last week, that is just the way it is.
If customers want to add fuel to the fire, they can connect to The Rage Room’s speaker system and blast their choice of music.
“We had a couple in here. They turned the glass back into sand,” Monica Stanton said. “They were thorough.”
That couple, she shared, decided on death metal music for their session.
Cassidy Grindle of Bangor uses a baseball bat last Sunday to shatter a wine glass tossed by Nick Haggan of Hampden during their date at The Rage Room. The two used bats and hammers to smash televisions, printers, plates, wine glasses and other items. The business opened Nov. 1 in Winslow. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel
After the fun is done, Monica Stanton said, the best part is not having to clean up. Customers smash stuff, make a mess and leave. Cleanup only takes about 30 minutes, as does the setup. That means the Stantons have been able to book many sessions on any given day.
From the business side, The Rage Room is a pretty sweet deal, according to the Stantons. They source many of the smaller items and glassware from yard sales and auction houses. For the bigger items, including televisions, printers, monitors and toaster ovens, they rely on deals with local businesses.
Since everything they buy is going to be smashed, the Stantons do not care if products are damaged, defective, chipped or nonfunctioning. It is a mutually beneficial arrangement: They get stuff at a discount, while businesses are able to sell items that would otherwise go unsold.
Most of the customers who have used The Rage Room so far have been women in their early 20s, according to Monica Stanton. Groups of friends — mostly — and even some mother-daughter pairs.
The Stantons also said they often see couples booking date nights. And last week, The Rage Room hosted a birthday party of five.
Monica Stanton said workplaces have begun booking The Rage Room for upcoming holiday parties.
Craig Stanton, owner of The Rage Room in Winslow, is shown last Sunday with an 8-pound sledgehammer that customers use to smash televisions, printers, radios and other objects. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel
Since The Rage Room has only been open a couple of weeks, the Stantons said they are still in the “trial and error” stage of opening a business.
Craig Stanton said he has a new heater coming soon to keep the space warm through winter, and he is thinking up ways to spread word of his new business, including advertisements, flyers and posts to TikTok.
Although, he said, The Rage Room “pretty much explains itself.”
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