Growing rage room franchise iSmash will be making its way to the Greater Atlanta area this summer. In addition to a location slated to open in June in Roswell, another franchisee in the area is working on an opening in Macon.
Dhaval Patel and his team will bring iSmash Macon to life in a 7,000-square-foot space at 6443 Zebulon Rd, Suite 1F. The location is currently in the final stages of construction and should open by June.
Patel was drawn to the concept when he and his friends were out in Macon, trying to think of activities to do. They realized they wanted to bring a novel entertainment retail option to Macon.
“We were looking at franchises, and we came across iSmash,” Patel told What Now Atlanta. “We liked the concept.”
When Patel inked a multi-unit deal with the franchise, the brand had only five locations. Since then, the brand has grown to 15 locations across 10 states.
The franchise offers different smash packages, ranging from 20-minute rage sessions to 50-minute sessions with an array of different materials to smash. Different items include glass, electronics and car windshields. It also offers splatter paint packages and axe throwing.
The Macon location, which will be one of the largest for the brand to date, will mark one of the first iSmash locations to feature additional activities, including Floor Frenzy and a sports simulator.
Eventually, Patel plans to expand to McDonough and Marietta.
The soon-to-open Macon and Roswell locations are just two of many locations in the works for the franchise across the country. iSmash CEO Steven Shortino told What Now Atlanta that they have more than 100 committed franchise units and are hoping to have 35-40 locations open by the end of 2025. They hope to hit the 100-unit benchmark by 2028.
“We want to be in most major cities, coast to coast, and to be a dominant player in the entertainment industry,” Shortino said.
For Shortino, the appeal of iSmash is in the pricing and the growing popularity of rage rooms and similar entertainment retail options.
“Usually when it comes to entertainment, the activities that are very exciting are more expensive like go-karts or skydiving. Those are known as being quite exhilarating and quite expensive. Then you have the other end of the spectrum — maybe a trampoline park, an escape room or bowling — that people view as more casual entertainment,” Shortino said. “Where iSmash fits in well is being very reasonably priced but being a very unique and exciting experience.”
