Geared for Growth: iSmash Breaks Into Markets Around the Country with Smash Rooms and More Interactive Activities
iSmash offers smash rooms, splatter painting, and axe painting to customers around the United States to help have fun and relieve stress. CEO Steven Shortino was featured on Geared for Growth on Wednesday, September 11th as part of Greater Rochester Chamber’s ongoing partnership with 13WHAM/FOX Rochester. Shortino discussed what they offer & the feedback they get from customers, their partnerships in the Greater Rochester community, and how they have expanded throughout the country.
iSmash offers three different products for people to release stress and enjoy with friends through their smash rooms, black light splatter painting, and axe throwing. In the smash rooms, customers are given
protective equipment and tools to break and destroy all kinds of glass and electronics. They also provide speakers and entertainment to allow customers to make their experience their own. Besides the axe throwing and smash rooms, they offer black light painting as a great option for customers of all ages including kids birthday parties. iSmash offers annual memberships, allowing customers to visit as often as once a week to utilize their smash rooms and other activations to have a consistent outlet to relieve stress.
The organization works closely with partners throughout the Greater Rochester region to help make its offerings possible. Due to the popularity of the smash rooms, iSmash needs to acquire a lot of product to destroy, which they source locally through symbiotic relationships with other companies looking to get rid of product. “We get [the electronics] from a company called Sunnking in Brockport and they have been great [partners] for us,” Shortino shared, “For the glasswear, we work with thrift stores to help take stuff out of their warehouse, and we get beer bottles and liquor bottles from local suppliers.” Based on his experience, different individuals prefer smashing different types of objects, so it’s important to have a variety available for different parties.
iSmash got its start in 2018 and has grown rapidly throughout the past six years. “COVID was a setback, but it propelled our business forward in ways we were not expecting,” Steven explained, “It was a very stressful time period and people were stuck in their houses for months on end, and needed to get out and do something to relieve stress and just have a good time. iSmash was the perfect fit for them.” In 2021, iSmash expanded to their second location in Syracuse. In 2023, they began opening franchises around the country and finished the year with 13 locations. To date in 2024, they now have 44 units throughout the US. “We’re one of the fastest growing franchises in the whole county,” Shortino shared.
To learn more about iSmash, visit iSmashUSA.com.
Be sure to tune into FOX Rochester every Wednesday morning at 8:45 AM to catch every segment of Geared for Growth and hear all about Greater Rochester Chamber members growing and thriving.