Interview: We sit down with the McGlone brothers who are behind Wexford’s first VR escape rooms

We catch up Dave and Karl McGlone six months after they opened Escape Wexford…

In October 2024, brothers Dave and Karl McGlone opened a one of a kind business in Wexford town. Escape Wexford, located on Peter Street in Wexford Town, provides unique entertainment to customers in the form of virtual reality escape rooms.

Dawning a VR headset, customers immerse themselves in a completely virtual world where they encounter any manner of beings from zombies to aliens. There are 9 different worlds to choose from for 2 to 4 players to play at any one time. The business also does its share of birthday parties and offers special packages for these events.

Six months after their grand opening, we decided to catch up with the two to chat about the peaks and valleys of operating a unique business of this kind in the heart of Wexford town.

What are your guys’ backgrounds?

Dave: ‘I worked a lot in tech support. Companies like Apple and Squarespace. Very much in the tech industry, which was where we stumbled across the whole idea for VR entertainment.’

Karl: ‘I was kind of the complete opposite. I was working in a bakery. Over in Stable Diet. I was doing that for five or six years. Before that, we actually ran a film production company. We were doing videos and promotional material for people. We also made a few films along the way. Before that, I went to college for film engineering and music technology. Worked in some music studios and stuff like that. A wide variety of things have led to this.’

How did the idea for the business come about?

Dave: ‘We decided to start our own business in some way. Did a lot of research and found virtual reality escape rooms and thought that was an interesting idea. Looked into it a little bit more and when we tested it, we were sold.’

Karl: ‘When we did more research, we found out that there was a place in Waterford already doing it. A place in Dublin doing it. We didn’t steal their business model, but we modelled our business on what they were doing and adapted it to Wexford.

For us, there wasn’t a whole lot to do in the evenings other than go to the pub or the cinema. We were looking for something completely different. We wanted to come up with something unique. Since we’ve opened, a lot of people have come in and said, “This is exactly what the town needed.”’

Dave: ‘It’s something that is new and a lot of people haven’t done before. It’s a completely new experience that you can’t get anywhere else in Wexford. You can get VR headsets for home, but the software we run is not available, and it runs differently so you can’t replicate this at home. It’s very much a unique experience you can only get in a business like this.’

Have you encountered any challenges in the business so far?

Karl: ‘The location of our shop isn’t the best because it’s just off the main street. Getting people to realise we’re actually here has been the biggest challenge. We’re constantly coming up with new promotions for that. We’ve tried radio advertising and we’re trying a new promotion where we have someone dressed in a costume running downtown with our flyers. Just to get more locals involved and get the word out.

We have found that a lot of businesses at this end of town are struggling. I think a lot of them are feeling neglected by the council. The rates are ridiculously high, and the advertising has been taken away; they recently did a thing where they took signs off the streets. It’s all things people are trying to do to bring more business in but we’re constantly getting restricted. We’re tackling these challenges as we go.’

Do you have any tips for budding entrepreneurs?

Dave: ‘I think the most important thing is to get yourself in front of people. Hand out flyers personally. Get involved with your local community as much as possible and become known with other businesses as well. Do the best you can to get your name out there.’

Karl: ‘I think the best thing to do is to take a chance on something. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. I think the town could really do with unique ideas. I think The Retro Gaming Store is a great idea. Something completely different in the town. There’s loads of things popping up every now and then that are completely new ideas. Hopefully people will support new ideas as they come along’

What would you say to somebody who has never tried virtual reality gaming?

Dave: ‘It’s fully immersive technology. Once you put the headset on, you’re transported to a different reality. It’s something completely different. You’re actually in the game rather than looking at it. It gives you a whole new perspective. It’s something different and a lot of people will never have done stuff like this before. Most of us don’t get to go to a space station but you can here.’

Karl: ‘One challenge we’ve come up against is that some people see gaming and think it’s for children. We actually had a full family in here last week and they brought their grandmother with them. The grandmother got more stuck into the game than the kids did. She absolutely loved it. I think she actually had the top score.’

If you would like more information about Escape Wexford, check out their Facebook page.

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