The reopening of Boda Borg has been planned by Mayor Gary Christenson, Chad Ellis, the Manager of Boda Borg Boston, and Kevin Duffy, Strategy and Business Development Officer. During the hibernation period in which Boda Borg and many other businesses were closed, it was not too much of an issue to stay solvent. While they did have to pay rent, the city was able to help all the businesses in the city.
Boda Borg has taken many measures to ensure safety against COVID-19. A mask protocol is in place and so is social distancing but Boda Borg is also deep cleaning much more often. They do a clean before and after opening every day and throughout the day they clean two rooms at a time.
Boda Borg has voluntarily chosen to have about 40% capacity, which is less than the recommended percentage of 50%. This also means that groups can social distance while staying inside the building, reducing risk of getting infected from other groups.
In the interest of health and safety, some rooms have been closed, like Boll Koll (Ball Control), since it was extremely hard to sanitize the balls after each group.
Customers that are vaccinated still have to wear a mask to avoid confusion and in case they are a carrier. Masks will most likely be needed or at least suggested at Boda Borg for a while even after the vaccination is open and available to everyone.
The reopening of Boda Borg has already impacted the surrounding business. Since Boda Borg is located around many restaurants, it has created an economic boost for surrounding businesses, as people are likely hungry after questing.
About 97% of people that visit Boda Borg are from out of the city and with Boda Borg opened up again, it has heavily impacted Malden.
Duffy stated that “the main problem with regular team building is it is either team building but not fun, or [it is] fun but not team-building. Boda Borg is truly both. Because [you will] have your alpha person, the ones who are in charge, telling people what to do, and [they will] tell them to do this and this, but they will fail, so they have to turn to their teammates and ask them what they think. So [it is] really good at making team-building corporate bonding experience work. And [that is] why they have so many repeat customers.”
Duffy added that “people like Google, Microsoft, Wayfair, they have been to Boda Borg over 100 times. When people return that many times, you know [it is] effective.”
Boda Borg was also the start of Malden’s Gaming District. There are multiple ways to play and have fun all around Malden, but they are not located in one city or a particular area, whereas with Malden, there is Boda Borg and a gaming cafe and another escape room establishment located right in the city’s center.
Ellis said “it has been really gratifying for us how many people have come back and said really nice things, about being glad that we have made it through, being glad to see that we are back, we have had team members who have moved onto other jobs and other paths that have come back to visit, a lot of guests as well, and [it is] just nice to have people having fun in the building again, and we are looking forward to entertaining a lot of people as things get back to normal.”
Mayor Christenson wants to “thank [local] businesses for hanging in there.” He further explained that he understands that “this has been a year like no other and [no one knew] which way this was going to go, but now that we are getting vaccinated and people are starting to feel a little bit better looking back you can see the benefit of always making sure to keep the lines of communication open and to work together.”
On the topic of Malden starting to reopen, Christenson also wanted to thank “Duffy for working alongside them to take advantage of whatever resource that was made available by the state and federal government is another reason of how we have been able to make our way through these times”
Boda Borg is currently operating at 40% capacity, but can be booked any day as long as there are openings. Visitors must sign a waiver before questing and must observe social distancing and wear a mask at all times.
To visit the Boda Borg website for more information, click here.
