Emotional release is key at SMASH 180

MONROEVILLE — You can cry, scream and break things, and it's all perfectly acceptable at SMASH 180, 5 South Main St., Monroeville. "We're stress-relief entertainment," said proprietor Steven Summerland. He explained that the point of his business, more than just having fun, is to offer a private space where people can work out their frustrations and come to an emotional catharsis. "We started April 23, 2021," Summerland said, "so we're coming up on a year." He said business was slow at first, as might be expected with any new business, but business began booming to the point that he recently went part-time at his other job. "Starting in the summer it picked up and it's been steady to this day." Summerland detailed that the business offers 20-minute private sessions, in a private space, where participants can suit up in protective clothing and wail away on flat-screen TVs, plates, cups, bowls, dishwashers, washing machines, computers and windshields, windows, trinkets and microwave ovens with the capacitors and magnetrons removed. "We have a variety of things," he said. Summerland said he suits clients up in protective suits, eye protection, hard hats with face shields, level 5 protective gloves with larger work gloves over them. Then he takes a picture of them in front of the business' banner. "We like to say we make them Facebook famous," he said. "That gives them a little giggle." Summerland leads them into the SMASH room, where clients listen to their own music and write their troubles on the items in the room. They are given their choice of a baseball bat, crowbar, pipe wrench, axe handle or hand sledgehammer. He said full-sized, eight-pound sledgehammers were soon eliminated from the mix, due to too high a destructive potential. "We retired those pretty quickly," he said. The principal idea behind SMASH 180 is to offer the kind of release of emotion that can assist with relieving the buildup of daily stresses that come with the most difficult and the most mundane moments of life and even steer people away from the dangers of depression, addiction and suicide. "We're that outlet for them," the business owner said. "Most people who come in, they thank us. People come in for fun, for bonding." He said that SMASH 180 allows for clients to bring others for emotional support, but also employs cameras in the SMASH areas, to keep things from getting out of control, when strong emotions come out. The clientele varies widely, as do people's reasons for visiting. "We've had dates, blind dates, anniversaries, "divorceaversaries," he said. "We've got cancer survivors who come in and want that release from all that they've been through. We have (psychological) therapists who come in." The therapists tell him they recommend their own clients write their emotional pain on a of paper, then tear them up. "Writing it down on a plate and smashing it is far more satisfying. "We get people from all over, too," he said, noting that people have come from as far away as Lima, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Additionally, Summerland hopes to have a mobile unit up and running within the next month, consisting of a tent to take to various companies and industries. Summerland said SMASH 180 is available for those 13 and up, because, as he and his wife, a Norwalk public schoolteacher have observed, problems revolving around hormonal changes, drug and alcohol exposure and other factors tend to begin peaking in the middle school years. Another facet of the business' clientele is veterans, who were also considered when starting up, due to his own military experiences and attendant frustrations, Summerland said. "I was in the Marine Corps." Summerland said SMASH 180 also has also worked closely with Project Noel, which benefits children who have lost one or both parents to opiate overdoses. SMASH 180 was also involved in television, when a Sandusky actress filmed a segment there for the TLC network's "90-Day Diaries." Garage sales, online auctions, spring and fall trash pickups and donations from private sponsors aid the business, the owner said. Included are Norwalk's Smetzer Kitchen and Appliance and Foghorn Designs, Avery's Roll it Forward rummage sale and The Honey Hole, Sandusky's Adkins Glass, Oak Harbor's Radiant Windows and Port Clinton Rummage. "They've been huge to our success." Summerland said the business maintains flexible hours, to accommodate workers on second and third shifts. Individual sessions are available exclusively at smash180llc.com. "We are the only one in northern Ohio," Summerland said. "There's nothing else like it."