Metro Roundup: Vestavia Hills alumni start Birmingham’s first ‘Rage Room’

Alex Miller needed to do something about his inventory.

Miller, a 2010 graduate of Vestavia Hills High School, recently started a wholesale liquidation business, buying items from various businesses and storing them in his warehouse in Homewood. While he was successfully selling much of his inventory, he found that he had many items that were hard to sell and taking up about 80% of the space he had available.

While trying to decide what to do with the inventory, Miller said he had a “lightbulb” moment.

Realizing that there was a demand for entertainment in Birmingham, Miller partnered with his longtime friend David Sanders, a 2008 graduate of Vestavia Hills High, who runs Audio and Video Service Co. in Homewood, to start Birmingham Rage Room, offering a creative way to get rid of his inventory while allowing others to have some fun.

The rage room, at 2616 Seventh Ave. S. in Lakeview, stores Miller’s inventory, along with donated items, for guests to destroy using baseball bats, mini-sledgehammers, crowbars and more, smashing things in a safe environment.

Miller said rage rooms are a proven business model in other cities around the country and said he and Sanders aren’t necessarily reinventing the wheel but looking to provide people a chance to have some good, not-so-clean fun. But don’t worry, they’ll clean up the mess, Miller said.

“Everything your mother told you not to touch, not to break … you can come in here and smash it,” Sanders said. “It’s taboo. It’s something different to do.”

Everything your mother told you not to touch, not to break … you can come in here and smash it.

-David Sanders

The items will be destroyed, and then reused, avoiding the landfill as much as possible.

“We’re giving these items one last hurrah of life,” Miller said.

The rage room features two rooms for destroying things, and has a backyard that will, once completed, be available for Nerf games, obstacle courses, dodgeball and more, catering to younger children as well, Miller said.

“This is definitely a big project,” Miller said of the backyard.

The rage room will be, for now, reserved for people at least 19 years old.

The building uses recyclable pallets to hang items like Nerf guns, hammers and more, and is used aesthetically throughout the business. Miller said while the original goal was to use lumber, the COVID-19 pandemic drove those prices sky high, and using pallets allows the rage room to recycle as much as possible. For items made from glass, Sanders said he plans to reuse the glass to create a clear platform in the rage rooms so guests can see the broken items underneath them as they destroy printers, TVs and more to their heart’s content.

Miller said eventually, the pair plans to have special events where guests will be able to smash cars, throw spark plugs at a car and other, “bigger” events.

The rage room was expected to open in mid-to-late-June, Miller said, and is open for bookings from noon to 10 p.m., seven days a week. While walk-ins may be available, Miller said given the time it takes to clean up each room and prepare it for the next guest, they are concentrating on bookings. They can also do custom packages for parties, Miller said.

The price for a rage room session is $15 per person, with a maximum of six people per group, along with $1 per minute, ranging from 10 minutes to 45 minutes, Miller said. Guests will also pay for the breakables and can bring their own for $15, or can purchase items from the rage room.

Sanders said the business is emblematic of what many young entrepreneurs aspire to.

“We are literally building the American dream right here,” Sanders said. “We are going to run it, invest our own money into it, and then, eventually, grow it to where other people are running it and we can have more of a supervisory role.”