Years ago, when my wife suggested I start sleeping in the basement, and then she boarded shut the only exit, I thought we were just having fun. Little did I know that we were missing out on a business trend. Indeed, figuring out how to break out of a locked room is becoming quite the trend in Lawrence.

Last week, we told you about Breakout Lawrence, a new business venture that is in the works. The idea is people pay for the challenge of figuring out how to escape a themed room full of puzzles, quizzes and other mind-bending exercises. Shortly after our article about Breakout Lawrence appeared, I got a call from another group of entrepreneurs who said they also are opening a similar business in Lawrence. This one will be called Locked In.

Shannon Buerger and her daughter Camas House will own the new business. The pair have been negotiating for a second-floor space above a retail shop on Massachusetts Street, but I don’t think that has quite been finalized. So, it remains to be seen where the business will land.

These businesses are becoming a trend not just in Lawrence. They’re called escape rooms, and the idea that started in the Far East is starting to find its way to metro areas across the country. They each work a little differently, but the general concept is that you and a group of friends pay a fee, enter a themed room — everything from a faux motel room to a haunted house — then have to solve a variety of challenges that give you clues that ultimately lead you to discovering a code or a key that will allow you to unlock the room. Generally, you have about an hour to complete the task. If you haven’t, they’ll let you out anyway. (I have found basement rules are a little more strict.)

“I was reading a Time magazine, and there was a short article about an escape room in New York City,” Buerger said. “It talked about how it was such a booming business, and I thought it would be a great thing for Lawrence.”

Buerger said the business hopes to have about 1,200 square feet of space that can accommodate two escape rooms. She said the first one will be built around a zombie apocalypse theme. Much like Breakout Lawrence, she hopes to have the business open by Thanksgiving. (Full Disclosure: I too am opening one of these businesses, but it will be open only on Thanksgiving. It will be called Breakout Elastic Waistband.)

Buerger said Locked In will charge $25 per session. The business hopes to be downtown and have late-night hours that will appeal to the college crowd. But Buerger said the business also will seek to be family friendly. Groups will be limited to eight people, but she said the company will have a policy of not putting strangers in the room together, so some groups may be smaller. She said most of the puzzles and challenges will be geared toward ages 12 and up. (Forget zombies, as the parent of 12-year old boy, I can attest being locked in a room full of them will provide a special type of motivation to escape.)

We’ll keep an eye on how all of this progresses. Both businesses have left some details unsaid here. (Breakout Lawrence also had not finalized a location when I spoke with them.) Both businesses are obviously in a race to capture the public’s attention. It should be fun to watch. I’ll let you know if I see any new details — once I get out of the basement.

In other news and notes from around town:

• If somehow I were to be locked in a room with seven other people for an hour, I would field an hour’s worth of questions about when the Menards store in Lawrence will open. Everybody wants to know, and I wish I had a definitive answer.

I don’t, but I think we all will have one soon. I’ve been told by a Menards official that a press release with details about the opening is set to be issued in the middle of next week. I’ve also been told by others that employees at the store are preparing for an Oct. 20 opening. I’ve gotten no confirmation of that from Menards.

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