Escape room coming to Southridge Mall in mid-February

Southridge Mall is adding an escape room to its growing roster of entertainment-based tenants.

Sixty to Escape is slated to open in mid-February on the mall’s upper level, adjacent to Round 1 Bowling & Amusement. The 6,600-square-foot space will include four themed escape rooms. 

This is the second location for Gurnee, Illinois-based Sixty to Escape, which first opened in 2016 at Gurnee Mills. The business will partner with Oak Creek-based escape room City 13 to open its Southridge Mall concept. 

“We are pleased to expand our presence to the Milwaukee market and look forward to joining a great mix of offerings at Southridge Mall,” said Stephen Kristof, owner of Sixty to Escape. “We are confident that area shoppers will enjoy our unique and exhilarating escape room experiences and look forward to welcoming them to our  space next year.”

Groups of up to eight people have 60 minutes to solve a mystery and escape their respective room using puzzles, codes and clues. Sixty to Escape offers bookings for public and private games as well as private events for large groups.

The escape room trend has emerged in many cities as a popular destination for corporate groups, team building activities, birthday celebrations and other private events.

Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward is home to Escape the Room Milwaukee and Save Milwaukee, which operates two rooms in the Marshall Building and one on Brady Street on the East Side.

Other escape rooms around the city include Breakout and Catch 22 Escape Rooms, both in Brookfield, Escape MKE in Wauwatosa and Escape Waukesha in Waukesha.

Despite increased vacancies and retail challenges at regional malls, Southridge has managed to add a number of tenants to its roster this year – most recently women’s fashion boutique Shopbella and CBD retailer Seventh Sense. Discount retailer T.J. Maxx opened in August.