PIckleball Coming To Malls

With so many big box retailers like Bed, Bath & Beyond and Old Navy closing stores, mall owners have a strategy to fill in the empty spaces. Mall owners are looking to pickleball, the fastest growing recreational sport in the country, by building courts instead of renting to typical anchor stores. It continues the trend of trying to attract different types of customers than the usual mall visitors by adding entertainment like virtual golf, skydiving, breweries, arcades, karaoke and more. Pickleball players have grown by 150% to 8.9 million over the last three years. Camp Pickle is a new chain that offers pickleball courts and food options, and is expanding nationally.

Photo 90131531 / Pickleball © Robert Hills | Dreamstime.com