Pickleball franchise plots global expansion
Eight years ago, long-time ping-pong aficionado Jorge Barragan played his first game of pickleball and took an immediate liking to it. One winter’s day, he and a friend went to a local rec center to have a game and found a crowd of about 50 people waiting for a court.
“What cult did I join?” he asked himself.
Not long after that experience, Barragan was laid off from his tech job, called his friend Austin Wood, and asked him what he thought about building an indoor pickleball court that could accommodate scores of players.
“Let’s do it. I’m in!” Wood replied.
Today their company, The Picklr, has 31 indoor pickleball clubs in seven states, but their ultimate plan is to take the franchise global, and the company has hired JLL as its master broker to make Barragan’s and Woods’s dream a reality.
“We have 27 locations open now and we’re looking for franchisees across the Lower 48 states and Canada,” said Chris Walker, The Picklr’s chief development officer. “We have nationwide aspirations and we’re moving fast.”
JLL has signed franchisees to nearly 500 leases in locations ranging from 20,000 to 60,000 sq. ft. in size. They add up to a total of 2.8 million sq. ft. of space, a number that Walker claims will make The Picklr the largest pickleball center operator in the United States.
“They’re in a good mix of sites—both open-air centers and malls--where we’ll serve as co-anchors,” Walker said.
Unlike many other pickleball chains that include other activities and sit-down food and beverage components, The Picklr is all about pickleball. Locations offer league play, a Junior Academy, and adult clinics. Food and beverage sales are grab-and-go only.
“We are not eatertainment,” said Walker. “We’re a pickleball club.”
The Picklr has signed its first Canadian lease in Winnipeg and plans for a total of 65 locations across that nation. Worldwide expansion comes next on the Kaysville, Utah-based company’s business plan.
“We’re thrilled to partner with The Picklr on their journey to grow the sport of pickleball on a global scale,” said JLL senior managing director David Nixon. “We feel that The Picklr has the opportunity to build a robust international pickleball community.”
