Why a fast-growing pickleball operator is betting on the Illawarra
The fast-growing pickleball operator says strong local demand and a lack of dedicated facilities made the Illawarra an attractive expansion market.
A fast-growing pickleball operator with plans for global expansion is opening two Illawarra venues within weeks of each other as it accelerates its rollout across Australia.
House of Pickle will officially open its new Bellambi facility on Saturday, June 13, marking its seventh venue in just over a year. A second Illawarra site is already set to follow in Albion Park later this month.
For co-founder and CEO Ollie Matthews, the decision to invest in the region was driven by strong local interest in the sport and a lack of dedicated facilities.
“It’s a region which is obviously close to Sydney, but it’s a little bit too far to go for just a game of pickleball,” he said.
The Bellambi venue will be the largest dedicated indoor pickleball facility in the Illawarra, while the Albion Park site will also include padel courts.
Founded a little over a year ago, House of Pickle has grown to seven venues, including sites at Darling Harbour, Port Melbourne and Redcliffe Peninsula. Matthews said another 10 venues are in development as the company explores opportunities in New Zealand, Southeast Asia and the United Kingdom.
Matthews, whose background is in property development and investing, said the business has been able to move quickly by bringing project management and construction capabilities in-house.
“We’ve got internal project managers, I’ve got internal builders, all part of my head company,” he said.
“Within two weeks, we can get it from start to finish completely open.”
Matthews believes Australia’s pickleball market is still in its infancy.
“We’re only at about 8% of where pickleball participation’s going to get to in Australia in the next couple of years,” he said.
The company has no plans to slow its expansion.
“By the end of the year to mid next year, we’ll probably be one of the biggest in the world as well, which is really exciting,” Matthews said.
While Bellambi and Albion Park are the immediate focus, Matthews said future expansion in the region would be driven by local demand.
“We effectively open up where there’s demand,” he said.
“If there’s more demand, there’ll be more sites.”
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