Oct. 28—TURNS OUT smashing things is therapeutic and can be stress relieving.
It can also be good business.
Rage Cage NH in Nashua lets customers take a sledgehammer to a printer or break plates in a safe environment. Customers fill a crate full of junk ripe for destruction.
Tedd Cherry opened the business on West Hollis Street in February 2021, but now he hopes to move into a larger space. He reached an agreement to lease space in an old mill building at 55 Lake St., which will require a use variance from Nashua's Zoning Board of Adjustment.
"What we do is we allow people to work through their frustrations and anger," Cherry told the ZBA. "We tell people to get it out in here instead of doing something stupid in the community."
Another aspect of the business is glow-paint splatter rooms, where people don white jumpsuits and toss neon paint at each other and at canvas. Some show up with custom T-shirts to remember the moment.
The business has drawn customers as young as 3 and old as 93. The "Rage Rooms" require participants to be 13 or older, while the paint rooms are for everyone.
Part of the goal is looking to provide a unique experience, especially for birthday parties.
"We offer a new and exciting opportunity for parents to bring their kids to something interesting and unique that they haven't been to a million times," Cherry said.
The application included letters of support from a licensed therapist and social worker.
Such rooms provide individuals with a "controlled and safe environment to release pent-up emotions and stress," one supporter wrote.
The public hearing on the use variance will continue on Nov. 14. Cherry hopes to transition to the new space in January.
Also on the move
Juanita's Mexican Restaurant, which operated for years in Brookline, has moved to Milford.
The restaurant closed its Brookline location in August and reopened on Oct. 7 at 286 Elm St., Unit B, in Milford.
The Mexican restaurant's walls include two murals by Eric Escobar.
Working out in Salem
The state's newest Pure Barre will host a ribbon cutting on Tuesday, Nov. 7, from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. at 55 Central St.
Pure Barre is a fitness studio where women and men "share a sense of community that inspires and empowers each other's fitness and lifestyle goals," according to its website.
The studio started rolling out classes starting in August. The business also sells fitness clothes.
Closed for renovations
Oak & Grain restaurant at the Inn at Pleasant Lake in New London is pausing its dinner service while undergoing renovations, according to its website. The owners described the work as "long-overdue improvements" to the kitchen and plumbing systems.