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Sometimes, you just want to smash things into little tiny pieces of their former selves.
Although that feeling is common, it’s not something that’s easy to do in the real world.
Until now.
Fellow Earthlings Rage Room is a new business in DeLand that caters to customers wanting to pulverize inanimate objects into smithereens.
Owner Austin Hiers said he got the idea from a YouTube post. He felt it was a perfect complement to his other business, DeLeon Springs-based Let It Go Junk Removal. That business carries away items that people no longer want.
“Ninety percent of what we remove goes to a scrap yard, landfill or recycling center,” Hiers told The West Volusia Beacon. “But 10 percent can be used here or resold in our store.”
Fellow Earthlings Rage Room — the name comes from a greeting Hiers uses on social media — has a slogan of “Have a smashing good time!”
The rage room had its grand opening April 17. It’s located in a strip center at 1611 S. State Road 15A, next door to Sweetwater Medical Central (a medical supply business) and across a side street from Badcock Home Furniture & More.
Hiers and his wife, Kelsey, have turned over operations of the junk-removal business to trusted employees and focus instead on running the rage room and resale shop in front of it.
HOME OF A SMASHING GOOD TIME — Fellow Earthlings Rage Room is between Sweetwater Medical Central and Badcock Home Furniture on South State Road 15A.
Austin Hiers said they are very safety-conscious, requiring rage room customers to wear full-body coveralls, gloves and full helmets with goggles.
“We are definitely COVID-aware,” Hiers added. “All the suits are washed and sanitized after every use.”
Closed-toe shoes are also a must, he said, and customers must watch a safety video and sign a waiver before entering the room.
And if you get in soon enough, you might be able to leave your own mark on the place.
“We just painted one wall white, and we’re letting people sign it,” Hiers said. “We hope to have thousands of signatures soon.”
As a service to DeLand’s bar merchants (and resupplying the rage room), Hiers is picking up their empty bottles and broken glassware that would otherwise be sent to a landfill or recycling center.
Fellow Earthlings Rage Room is open 5-8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday, although Hiers said he might have to extend closing time. The resale shop is open during the day all six days.
The cost of causing all that destruction starts at $30 for a 15-minute session for one person, and goes up for longer sessions or more people.
For more information or to make an appointment, call 386-873-4045 or go to fellowearthlingsrr.com.
