Market timing is everything: These could be hugely popular if located near college campuses or inside MSNBC's studios

Supporters of Kamala Harris gather for her concession speech at her alma mater, Howard University, in Washington D.C.

New Waldo County business will let you smash things to blow off steam

A new Searsmont business will soon give its customers the chance to release any pent-up frustration by breaking glass objects, blasting loud music, bursting liquid-filled balloons and committing other forms of controlled destruction.

The operation, called The Rage Release, is due to open Nov. 22. When it does, it’ll be one of several so-called rage room businesses that have opened around Maine in recent years, though it would be the first in Waldo County.

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“It’s a fun, safe way of relieving stress, and creating new memories,” said Gail Gary Cox, the owner of the business.

Cox, who has several businesses, is opening The Rage Release in a large garage space on a residential property that she owns at 109 New England Road.

She is dividing it into multiple rooms that will provide customers with different types of experience. In some, they’ll be able to destroy or beat up a variety of objects, including wine glasses and bottles, stuffed animals or even a vehicle. Blunt objects such as baseball bats will be available. (The business is now accepting donations of old furniture and appliances people want to dispose of.)

In other rooms, customers will be able to explode balloons filled with paint or water. For those seeking a less tactile experience, there will also be options for dancing or screaming to music.

Fees will range from $10 to $250, depending on the activity, the number of participants and the length of time.

Some mental health experts caution that the increasingly popular rage rooms are no replacement for actual therapeutic treatments, and that people with certain disorders should avoid them. But when done safely, they note that they can help relieve stress, in the same way as video games or ax throwing can do.

Cox emphasized that her operation is not meant to promote violence or unhealthy reactivity, but rather to give people an outlet for any pent-up anger, grief or other emotions they may be feeling.

“For one person, breathing exercises could relieve their stress, but for someone else, they might think, ‘I have a lot of stress on me.’ Maybe breathing is not going to be enough,” Cox said. “It’s a new venture, I guess. But at the same time, giving our town something new, something to do. There’s not really another space like that around here.”

I give it the same shelf-life as those popcorn stores that sprouted across the country in the late 90s and disappeared just as quickly, but hey, ya gotta try.