FSR June 2023

PICKLEBALL

“I LOVE COMBINING THE ART OF CONCEPT CREATION WITH DATA SCIENCE; THAT’S TRUE WITH EVERY CONCEPT I CREATE, BUT YOU HAVE TO FIND A WAY TO MONETIZE ART.”

THE AESTHETIC AT CAMP PICKLE (ABOVE) IS A 1940S SUMMER CAMP/NATIONAL PARK THEME, DESIGNED TO APPEAL TO EVERYONE FROM GEN ZS AND MILLENNIALS TO BOOMERS.

wide, bringing in investment partners while maintaining full operational con trol at each location. Describing it as a joint-venture, hybrid franchise model, ompson says, “We intend to be both best-in-class and the most-scaled brand in a short period of time.” “Some of our conversations are hap pening with real estate developers who understand how to nancially engineer a deal that requires a lot of land and cap ital, some are with high-net-worth indi viduals who [want] to own a piece of a local Camp Pickle,” he explains. From a development perspective, the concept requires 55,000 to 75,000 square feet for the operations alone, sans parking, and can be built out ver tically across multiple oors. It’s a four to- ve-acre deal if self-parking is part of the equation, and roughly two acres if parking is not included, which is the case in Alabama where the City of Huntsville will have a multi-deck parking structure that Camp Pickle guests can use. Dark anchor slots in well-positioned shopping malls present another devel opment opportunity, which ompson has been exploring for a decade or more. He was unable to disclose speci cs but said his parent company is looking at former Sears sites and is in discussion with a national mall operator about a

potential joint-venture partnership that would repurpose former retail anchors—JC Penney, Macy’s, or Lord & Taylor stores—with the eatertain ment brands. “We’re relatively agnostic in terms of geography, more focused on the trade area, the economy in the local area, what the millennial base is, and, of course, disposable income. We’re not as focused on urban locations as we were with Punch Bowl Social. ese are more quasi-suburban, very similar to Topgolf, and because we need so much acreage, we’re not up near residential,” he says. e goal is to position Camp Pickle along major travel arteries that bring together multiple trade areas, while Jag uar Bolera will be the more urban, “in town” eatertainment concept. “Jaguar Bolera can be a little more drinky, it may have pickleball courts but it doesn’t have to; you won’t ever see a Camp Pickle without pickleball courts,” he says. e design aesthetic at Camp Pickle needed to appeal to everyone from Gen Zs to Boomers, so ompson settled on a 1940s summer camping/national park theme that he expects will be a warm, nostalgic experience for older genera tions and a “kitschy, novel” moment for younger generations.

e elephant in the eatertainment room has long been Dave & Buster’s, which has rebounded from pandemic era struggles to more than 150 loca tions across 41 states, and, in June 2022, acquired the Main Event eatertainment brand. Main Event, with some 50 loca tions around the country, is the more family-focused concept that positions alongside pickleball-themed venues. Smash Park’s Dahlhauser noted that a Dave & Buster’s is being built across the street from their Des Moines loca tion. How much competition Dave & Buster’s or Main Event presents for pick leball eateries remains to be seen. When asked if they would be introducing pick leball courts into any of their existing or new locations, the Dave & Buster’s par ent company chose not to comment.

CAMP PICKLE / SMASH PARK MARKETING

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JUNE 2023