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Brent Alexander found himself in what some would call a dicey situation on a family vacation to Southeast Asia last year: He was locked inside a room with his wife and two young sons.
Yet Alexander, a Sarasota entrepreneur, was there by choice. To get out, Team Alexander had to answer scavenger hunt-type questions and solve a series of puzzles. The quest was part of a new kind of tourism attraction, called real escape rooms. “When we first heard about it we thought this was stupid,” Alexander says. “But once we started doing it, it turned out to be a real great family experience.
“It's like being inside a video game. You have to work your way out.”
A West Point grad who previously worked in marketing and community relations for two NFL teams, Alexander thought escape rooms were a great business opportunity. He and his wife, Renee Ryckman, launched a company, Escape Countdown, to operate these rooms.
The couple has invested at least $500,000 into Escape Countdown since they launched it in early 2015, all from savings. The first three rooms are scheduled to open later this year.
One, for a small market, is in Sarasota, near Siesta Key Beach; a second location, for a mid-size city, is in Tampa, a block east of the Westshore Plaza Mall; and the third location is in Atlanta, across the street from the Georgia Aquarium.
Alexander aims to have at least 50 Escape Countdown locations nationally within five years. He hopes to exploit a nascent and fragmented market, filled mostly with mom-and-pop operators. Says Alexander: “There's not a lot of entertainment out there where the entire family can strive for one goal.”
Escape rooms have been around for about two years. Alexander and Ryckman traveled worldwide to try escape rooms in places such as Paris and London. Budapest, says Alexander, has about 40 escape room businesses, where customers include couples on a date and businesses on a team-building experience. Some companies even use escape rooms to try out job candidates.
There are about 350 escape rooms in the United States, Alexander says, including some in big cities that pop up and stay open for a few days. The rooms have themes, from Sherlock Holmes to ancient Egypt.
The burgeoning popularity is tantalizing and terrifying for Alexander. “This whole thing could be a flash in the pan, so we are taking a big risk,” he says. “But we think people are yearning for social interaction that's real.”
Escape Countdown will have a mix of rooms that can draw families, couples and large groups. The price will be around $28 per person.
Alexander worked for the Chicago Bears, in business development, and the Tennessee Titans, in community relations, before he was named senior marketing director for Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby. He relocated to the Sarasota area with his family in 2011.
“Our goal is to make this a premium experience, more like Disney,” Alexander says. “I'm excited to see how it plays out and people respond.”
Follow Mark Gordon on Twitter @markigordon
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