Howard Klotzkin’s Entrepreneurial Career Reflects Innovation, Growth and a Commitment to Bringing People Together

Menifee, California Aug 28, 2026 (Issuewire.com) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEHoward Klotzkins Entrepreneurial Career Reflects Innovation, Growth and a Commitment to Bringing People TogetherNew Jersey entrepreneur built and expanded experiential-entertainment concepts around customer experience, teamwork, community and the confidence to pursue new ideas

For New Jersey entrepreneur Howard Klotzkin, building a successful business has long meant more than opening a set of doors.

It means recognizing an opportunity before it becomes obvious, creating an experience customers want to share with others, building the infrastructure necessary to grow, and learning from every stage of the process.

That approach has defined Klotzkins publicly documented entrepreneurial career.

Best known for his work with Amazing Escape Room and Bury the Hatchet, Klotzkin became an early participant in the growth of experiential entertainment businesses built not around passive consumption, but around people solving problems, competing, celebrating and spending time together.

Long before immersive group entertainment became commonplace, Klotzkin was already developing escape-room locations in New Jersey.

Amazing Escape Room traces its New Jersey presence to 2015, and public business records have identified Klotzkin as its owner.

By 2017, while expanding Amazing Escape Room, Klotzkin recognized another emerging opportunity: indoor competitive axe throwing.

That insight led to the development of Bury the Hatchet in New Jersey and the beginning of a period of rapid expansion.

Recognizing an Opportunity Then Building It

Entrepreneurship often begins with identifying something consumers do not yet know they want.

Klotzkin saw potential in experiential entertainment at a time when escape rooms and indoor axe throwing remained relatively unfamiliar to much of the American public.

The concept was straightforward but distinctive: give customers something they could actively experience together.

In 2017, Bury the Hatchet opened in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

Growth followed quickly.

By October 2018, published reporting identified the companys Greenpoint, Brooklyn venue as its 10th location. The 5,000-square-foot location represented a major expansion into New York City and included eight throwing lanes.

Only weeks later, Bury the Hatchet expanded again with its Paramus, New Jersey location, reported as the companys 11th venue.

In little more than a year, what began as an unconventional entertainment idea had developed into a multi-location business with a presence extending well beyond its original New Jersey market.

That growth is one of the clearest measures of Klotzkins entrepreneurial record: identifying a developing consumer trend and building the operating footprint necessary to scale it.

A Hands-On Approach to Growth

Expansion at that pace requires considerably more than an idea.

Locations must be identified. Leases must be negotiated. Spaces must be designed and built. Staff must be trained. Customers must be introduced to a new type of entertainment. And the experience must remain consistent as the business expands.

Public reporting about Klotzkins career shows an entrepreneur who was directly involved in that process.

His work included the development and build-out of entertainment locations as the concepts expanded throughout the region.

That hands-on approach is significant because sustainable growth is rarely created through branding alone. It requires translating an idea into physical locations where customers can actually experience it.

Klotzkin helped do exactly that.

Creating Experiences People Share

At the center of both Amazing Escape Room and Bury the Hatchet is a common concept: participation.

Customers are not simply spectators.

They interact.

They compete.

They solve problems.

They communicate.

They celebrate.

And, importantly for the businesses, they experience something together.

That made the concepts naturally suited for birthday celebrations, family outings, date nights, corporate gatherings, team-building activities, and groups of friends looking for something different from traditional entertainment.

Klotzkin described axe throwing in a 2017 interview as really entertaining and really competitive.

He later offered another memorable description of the experience:

Its darts on steroids.

Behind the colorful description was a serious understanding of consumer behavior: people enjoy activities that give them something to do together.

That social component became an important part of the growth of experiential entertainment.

Innovation Through Amazing Escape Room

Klotzkins entrepreneurial record extends beyond a single entertainment format.

His work with Amazing Escape Room preceded Bury the Hatchet and demonstrates a broader interest in immersive and interactive entertainment.

Escape rooms require teams to communicate, analyze clues, solve puzzles and work toward a shared objective within a themed environment.

The format combines entertainment with problem solving and teamwork qualities that made escape rooms popular not only among friends and families, but also among businesses looking for creative team-building experiences.

Amazing Escape Room expanded to multiple locations in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

The companys creative work also received recognition from specialist reviewers.

In 2019, Amazing Escape Rooms Cherry Hill experience Top Secret Mission received a Bullseye Awards Honorable Mention for Set Design from ESCAPETHEROOMers.

Another Amazing Escape Room attraction, Tiki Treasure Boat, also received favorable specialist attention for its themed environment, story and puzzles.

Such recognition reflects one of the more demanding aspects of experiential entertainment: customers expect not simply an activity, but an environment capable of making the experience memorable.

A Philosophy Centered on Customers

Klotzkins approach to business has also been unusually straightforward.

In a previously published interview, he summarized his advice to entrepreneurs:

Keep it simple. Be nice. Listen to your customers and learn from your experience.

It is a concise statement, but it captures several principles that frequently separate sustainable businesses from short-lived concepts.

Do not make the customer experience unnecessarily complicated.

Treat people well.

Pay attention to what customers actually want.

And remain willing to learn.

Those principles become increasingly important as businesses expand because growth creates complexity. Locations multiply. Employees increase. Markets differ. Customer expectations evolve.

Maintaining a simple focus on customer experience provides a constant through that change.

Businesses as Community Gathering Places

Experiential-entertainment venues can also become more than commercial destinations.

They can become gathering places for local businesses, nonprofit organizations and civic groups.

Locations associated with Klotzkins businesses have served that role.

In January 2023, Bury the Hatchet Freehold participated in a fundraising event benefiting Pitties & Pals Rescue, supporting the nonprofit organizations animal-rescue work.

In July 2025, the Matawan-Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce held an after-hours event at the Bury the Hatchet Matawan/Old Bridge venue.

The Chamber announced that a portion of proceeds from the event would benefit the MACOC Scholarship Fund.

Amazing Escape Room has likewise promoted charitable events, group gatherings and community involvement through its locations.

These events reflect something particularly valuable about locally operated entertainment businesses: they create physical spaces where people and organizations can gather around a shared purpose.

Encouraging Entrepreneurship in the Next Generation

Klotzkins commitment to entrepreneurship is also reflected within his own family.

In 2024, his son Milo Klotzkin, then just 18 years old, undertook the significant step of purchasing All Star Bagels in Lakehurst, New Jersey.

The acquisition was financed through a reported $250,000 business loan, with Howard Klotzkin serving as co-signer.

For a young entrepreneur, access to experience, encouragement and financial backing can make the difference between discussing an idea and actually taking responsibility for a business.

Howards willingness to support his sons acquisition represents a tangible investment in that next generation of entrepreneurship.

The family story also reflects an emphasis on education.

Published reporting has described how Klotzkin and his childrens mother encouraged their five children to pursue higher education despite Howard himself not having had the opportunity to attend college.

The combination of education, entrepreneurship and personal initiative reflects values Klotzkin has carried through his own business career.

The Entrepreneurial Skill of Seeing What Could Be

Some businesses begin because an entrepreneur invents an entirely new product.

Others begin because an entrepreneur sees potential in an idea before the broader market fully recognizes it.

Klotzkins record falls strongly into the second category.

He became involved in escape-room entertainment while the industry was still developing.

He recognized the commercial potential of indoor axe throwing while the concept was still unfamiliar to many consumers.

And he helped turn those ideas into physical entertainment venues serving customers across multiple markets.

The rapid growth of Bury the Hatchet from its New Jersey beginnings into a double-digit location footprint demonstrates the execution behind that vision.

It required identifying opportunities, finding locations, building operations, introducing customers to an unfamiliar entertainment format and continuing to expand.

Those are fundamental entrepreneurial skills regardless of industry.

Building Businesses That Bring People Together

The businesses most closely associated with Klotzkin share an important characteristic.

They are social businesses.

Escape rooms depend upon people communicating and solving problems together.

Axe-throwing venues turn an individual activity into friendly competition among groups.

Corporate teams use the venues to interact outside the workplace.

Families celebrate milestones there.

Friends compete.

Community groups hold events.

Charitable organizations raise support.

That common thread provides perhaps the clearest description of Klotzkins entrepreneurial legacy to date:

building businesses that give people something memorable to experience together.

His record demonstrates the value of recognizing an opportunity, moving decisively, learning from customers, and turning unconventional ideas into operating businesses.

And the philosophy he articulated years ago remains an appropriate summary:

Keep it simple. Be nice. Listen to your customers. Learn from experience.

About Howard Klotzkin

Howard Klotzkin is a New Jersey entrepreneur with a publicly documented record in experiential entertainment, business development and multi-location expansion.

His business experience includes leadership associated with Amazing Escape Room and Bury the Hatchet, two concepts built around interactive entertainment, teamwork and shared experiences.

During Bury the Hatchets rapid expansion, Klotzkin was publicly identified as an owner or co-owner as the company developed a double-digit location footprint. His entrepreneurial experience includes location development, business expansion and the creation of customer-centered entertainment concepts.

Businesses associated with Klotzkin have also hosted charitable fundraisers, scholarship-supporting events, corporate gatherings and community activities.

His business philosophy emphasizes customer service, simplicity, continual learning and creating experiences that bring people together.

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Sevilla Local Media
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