Got an ax to grind?
It might be a better idea just to throw it — in a controlled environment, of course — at TimberBeast Axe Throwing and Arcade in Barberton.
The family-owned operation, one of the newer additions to Barberton’s revitalized downtown, is located in a family-owned building on West Tuscarawas Avenue and sharing quarters with another family-owned business called Masterminds Escape Rooms.
“There’s a lot of family going on,” said Stefan Karakis, who manages the clan’s ax-throwing operations in Medina and Streetsboro.
Karakis’ father, Pete Karakis, owns the building and Masterminds locations in Barberton and Ashland. His brother, Dimitri Karakis, owns TimberBeast locations in Barberton, Medina and Streetsboro. His aunt, Amanda Caito, runs the Mastermind locations, and his sister-in-law, Katie Karakis, runs the Barberton TimberBeast location.
Like he said. Lots of family going on.
‘Once you do one, they can get addictive’
The businesses capitalize on two 21st-century trends with big pockets of popularity steadily expanding outward.
Combining two — or more — disparate activities in a shared space or building has become a trend within a trend. The so-called hybrid venue offers multiple entertainment options under one roof, expanding the pool of possible customers.
Escape rooms — like ax-throwing, which has leagues worldwide dedicated to the activity — have developed fervent enthusiasts, said Caito.
“If people like them, they want to do all of them,” she said. “Once you do one, they can get addictive.”
Melanie Black Amato, executive director of Main Street Barberton, said she tried ax-throwing when Timberbeast moved to town and gives it a high recommendation.
“I have done the ax-throwing,” she said in a June 17 phone interview. “That was my first attempt at that, and I have to say I absolutely loved it.”
Ditto for the escape rooms, which Amato frequents on her birthday. The experience of working together to solve a problem can be great team-building exercise, she said.
“If you are newly dating somebody it could be a good test,” she said. “You get to know somebody pretty fast.”
So, what are escape rooms and ax throwing all about?
The two concepts both have entertainment as the foundation, with ax-throwing transforming an ancient activity into a modern sport and escape rooms developing something relatively new — the rooms trace their history back to 2007 — into an immersive experience.
In the latter activity, teams are placed together in a room with a puzzle to solve, often to locate a key to open the locked door. At Masterminds, the rooms include family-friendly options like Jungle Jeopardy — the most popular in Barberton, so far — and Dollmaker, currently under development, for adults.
“It’s a serial killer horror theme,” said Caito.
Just to be clear, there’s no serial killing involved, but teams will need to solve the puzzle to escape, all in 60 minutes.
Caito said another escape room, building on the roots of the West Tusc building, has a planned debut in July. It’s an escape room concept she and her team designed themselves, inspired by the building’s history as the original post office, she said.
Also in the works are The Haunt, a haunted house escape adventure in the basement, with live ghost-hunting, and the Village of Intrigue, where patrons aren’t locked in a room.
“There will be six different storylines you can play through,” said Caito.
Bringing an entertainment beast to downtown Barberton
The Barberton TimberBeast is built on what’s worked at another location, said Stefan Karakis.
“Medina turned into a prototype of what we wanted to do here,” he said. “We’ve done pretty well over there.”
Karakis said enthusiasts participate in World Axe Throwing League events, competing with other teams. The league claims more than 20,000 competitors.
“There are some very talented people in Medina,” said Karakis.
For those who may not hit the mark as often as others, TimberBeast has what Karakis calls off-center games with non-bullseye targets.
“One … looks like a castle,” he said.
Dimitri Karakis said the family’s ax-throwing business started out in 2018.
“Dad saw an article about indoor ax-throwing,” Dimitri Karakis said. “He was like, ‘Let’s do a little road trip; let’s check it out.’ “
The excursion led to TimberBeast and came at the time of a big expansion in ax-throwing popularity.
According to xola.com, ax-throwing sales rose more than 300% from 2018 to 2019, and the activity became a $215 million industry by 2023, with about 360 ax-throwing locations in the U.S.
Ax-throwing, escape rooms appeal to all ages
Caito said the escape rooms in Barberton attract a diverse crowd.
“If we gear toward anything, I’d say young adults,” she said.
Ax-throwing, too, has wide appeal above the cut-off age — 11 years old — to participate, said Dimitri Karakis.
“We get people of all ages,” he said. “Almost an exact split of male and female.”
Stefan Karakis said the family’s hybrid venue operation is also adding a more traditional entertainment option, called Kracken Arcade. The arcade will include pinball and Skee-Ball machines and air hockey.
He said June 20 that he’s expecting games for the arcade space to be delivered the week of June 23.
Leave a message for Alan Ashworth at 330-996-3859 or email him at aashworth@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @newsalanbeaconj or Facebook at www.facebook.com/alan.newsman.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: New downtown Barberton establishment combines ax-throwing, escape rooms under 1 roof
Reporting by Alan Ashworth, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
