BY PARKER BROCK
Being a student is a lot; it’s the stress of having a job that determines your future without the incentive of a paycheck.
With cramming for midterms, writing a 1000 paper every week on top of the already insurmountable mountain of homework, along with the social pressures that come along with being a student; it can be a lot.
Some choose to internalize their stress, but it’s far from the healthiest way of dealing with it. Others choose to find forms of distraction such as movies, books or video games, but it still doesn’t solve the problem.
Located off Broadway Blvd and Campbell Rd it can be a little tricky to spot the building, aside from the moderately large sign indicating its presence.
Upon entering the building you immediately notice almost every inch on the walls, including the bathroom, is covered in the written names of former customers.
During the visit the only person working was one of the co owners Connor Franulovich. The wait time was miniscule, after signing safety waivers and a brief common sense safety briefing.
The Breaking Point presents the rage room experience, an idea first started in Japan that was quickly emulated here in the US.
The concept is you and up to a few friends can do what the Hulk does and smash, crush and shatter to your heart’s content.
Typically most rage rooms give a few limited items to smash, which a handful of restrictions that damper down the experience.
The Breaking Point deems that as long as you aren’t destroying the walls or lights or eachother, all is fair game.
The amount of time allotted depends on which rage package you purchase. The Date Night package, which is meant for two people, ran $20 per person for 15 minutes of demolition.
Once inside the room, adorned with safety gear consisting of a jumpsuit, gloves and a face mask, we were given an assortment of tools to sashiate our destructive delights.
The experience itself was a smashing good time. Nothing feels quite as good as slamming into a flat screen television with baseball bat.
Whether it was golfing with bottles of vodka or double-teaming a washing machine with pieces of rebar, the time in the room felt incredibly liberating.
While it may not be social acceptable to throw a computer monitor across the room, it sure feels good; being able to release all the stress and anger was incredibly therapeutic.
“Let’s give them more freedom, less restrictions, better equipment to use,” Connor Franulovich, co-owner of The Breaking Point, said on what makes it different from other rage rooms.
“We put a lot of passion into it, this is a space where we can be creative all the time and create really awesome experience for all of our customers,” Franulovich said.
Franulovich and his brother originally saw the concept on Facebook and thought on how they could make it better. A self described entertainment enthusiast, he spoke of what inspired them to pursue their venture.
“A big part of our business model is the fact we do our best to recycle all the materials we can, we work with a local recycling company to recycle what we can; we’ve already recycled over 20 tons of material,” Franulovich said.
Most of the materials used in the rage room, from appliances to beer bottles, are taken from local business around Tucson which would normally end up in landfills due to Tucsons policy of disallowing businesses to use recycling bins.
At the end of session the materials are recycled which reduces the business’s environmental impact; something Franulovich is very proud of.
“It’s a win/win for everybody,’ Franulovich said. ‘A lot of people still get turned off by the idea of recycling, but this is the best way to recycle. You get to throw a television across the room, what is there to understand about that.”
An interesting statistic Franulovich provided was that 63% of The Breaking Point customers are women ages 19-28.
“I think women traditionally haven’t been able to let it out without having someone feel judgemental towards them. If a guy like me were to go into a supermarket, get angry and kick over a shopping cart, I’m going to be perceived a whole lot differently than if a female of similar age were to do the same,” Franulovich said.
Franulovich sees his business as a place with no judgement, no bars, few restrictions were you can do whatever you want. The Breaking Point is a popular destination for Bachelorette parties, as well as lot of ladies nights according to Franulovich.
“Women want to tear apart a television just as much as men do,” Franulovich said.
The Breaking Point is has found a large amount of support and success here in Tucson, enough to warrant moving to a large location located of Broadway blvd and Wilmot rd. Currently they operate out of a 800 square feet facility, with plans to upgrade to a 4200 square ft facility.
Their success has also gained the business new investors who support the Franulovich brothers creative aspirations for the business.
“We’re excited to move to a bigger location have a bigger impact, work with more bars, more local appliance companies who help create a greener Tucson.” Franulovich said.
