When it comes to launching their own business, the learning curve for the minds behind Trapped Toledo has been challenging but conquerable— much like one of their trademark “escape rooms”. The interactive theater company on Key Street has seen remarkable success since opening its doors in 2014"I think we have mastered the administrative portion of the business a little bit more. We are doing things much more efficiently. We've got our training process better in place for our actors, [and] we have a full-time manager, who's doing a wonderful job," said Kimmer Callahan, co-owner and Chief Marketing Officer for Trapped.
Escaping the city
The process is so streamlined now, in fact, that the owners feel comfortable setting the next phase of their franchising plan in motion— the opening of a new location in Columbus, where Callahan calls home.
This doesn't mean Toledo's Trapped team is resting on its laurels, however. The group is currently running three scenarios, multiple times every weekend— from the fifth installment of its popular "Infected" zombie epic, to a prison escaped scenario called "Lockdown," though that'll be replaced by a sequel in September.
The carrying over of storylines from one scenario to the next has become a trademark of Trapped Toledo's presentation, one that helps the group stand out and encourages regular customers to return and experience the next installment of a larger narrative.
"We're unique in two things in particular— one is the changing out of scenarios. [In] most cases, most of these escape rooms do three scenarios, and they stick with those three scenarios for six, eight, ten, twelve months before they come out with something else," Callahan said. "I would say that I have not come across any that do sequences, or continued storylines.”
"I think that's what makes us unique, is the idea that we always stress that we're an interactive theater that specializes in escape games. Because the story, to us, comes first. The experience, the immersion, comes first. Second is the escape. There has to be a reason for you to escape."
Nowhere to escape
Standing out in the marketplace is growing continuously important for Callahan and his Trapped partners. Whereas the company was fairly unique when it first opened— Callahan estimated there were fewer than ten groups offering escape rooms in the country at the time— the market has now exploded, with tons of companies across America offering their own take on the genre.
"This is an interesting one, because we talk about this all the time— because we're entrepreneurs, we try to think of what the next thing is all the time," Callahan said. "And I feel like it's that translation of that virtual playset or playroom that can come alive and allow you to interact in real life.”
"One of the most popular game genres on your phone is escape rooms, clue-based games, or puzzlers. So people love that stuff. But, you don't get that kind of interactivity in real life. So, I think, it's basically a translation of a virtual world into a real-life scenario."
For tickets and times, visit website
Trapped Toledo, 2410 Key St.
567-316-7028 | trappedtoledo.com