‘More like giant pingpong’: Indoor pickleball facility to open in Batavia this month

Batavia residents will have a new recreational outlet this winter, with an indoor pickleball facility coming to the city’s west side next month.

Pickled!, a new Wheaton-based chain of pickleball facilities, will transform a vacant unit of the Wind Point Shopping Center into a recreational facility. Pickled! co-owner Nathan Taylor has made it his mission to grow the game by bringing pickleball to as many people as possible.

Pickled Inc., Taylor’s company, received a conditional use permit from the city of Batavia in November to convert the former buybuy BABY storefront at 301 N. Randall Road between Kohl’s and Office Max into the fourth Pickled! location. It will be their largest location, adding to existing facilities in Wheaton, Woodridge and Channahon.

The 34,500-square-foot space will be outfitted with 12 pickleball courts, four sports simulators and six pingpong tables.

Plans also call for a member’s lounge that will serve beer and wine and a small retail shop to sell apparel and equipment.

Planned hours of operation are from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.

Taylor said the goal is to be open by the third week in December.

The first phase of the remodel includes all the necessary additions to get the space ready for pickleball. The second phase will add amenities like golf simulators, pingpong tables and a bar area.

Taylor also is seeking a liquor license to serve beer and wine at the bar. He does not plan to serve hard liquor.

Taylor grew up in Spanaway, Washington, not far from Bainbridge Island where pickleball was invented. He said long before the game was popular in other states, he and other neighborhood kids growing up would wait in line to use the only court in their neighborhood.

“I loved it,” Taylor said. “To see it kind of grow into what it’s become is just incredible.”

After college and a brief semipro tennis career, Taylor worked for more than 20 years in information technology until pickleball started to rapidly gain traction around 2018.

Since Illinois weather is not conducive to outdoor play for many months of the year, Taylor said he had the idea to convert vacant retail spaces in shopping centers into indoor facilities where people could play year-round.

After a couple of years of developing his business strategy, Taylor quit his job in 2022 and opened the first Pickled! location in Wheaton in the spring of 2023. He spent the next year teaching classes and running the shop. After realizing the business model worked, owners have continued to expand into new locations.

Taylor said now that the business has matured and has three locations running smoothly, he has been teaching fewer classes and transitioning to the management side of the business.

Pickled! owners have plans to continue expanding. Taylor said the goal is to open another next year, and then decide whether they want to expand outside of Illinois into other Midwestern states.

“Our goal all along was to bring pickleball to as many people as possible,” Taylor said. “In my heart, I just want people to be able to play.”

Taylor said the beauty of pickleball is that age, size and strength are not determining factors to whether someone is good at pickleball. He said accuracy, strategy and consistency are rewarded more than size and raw power.

Taylor said the sport does wonders for older players’ health, and he has several players in their 70s and 80s who can move better now because of pickleball.

“I want them to be able to play well into their 90s,” Taylor said. “I think it’s a fabulous sport for being healthy for a long period of time, and it brings me great joy to see people play, be healthy, and recover some mobility and physical function that they lost in their 50s and 60s.”

Taylor said he tells everyone who comes in for their first lesson that while it looks like shrunk-down tennis, it’s more like giant pingpong. He said the game also has connections to badminton and volleyball.

Pickleball has been the fastest-growing sport in America for several years.

Taylor is hopeful pickleball will be a high school sport very soon and that the Olympic committee will approve it to be in the 2032 Olympic Games.

Taylor said what Pickled! does differently from its competitors is to be mindful of how much people are willing to spend and keep it affordable.

“I got into this not to become a millionaire,” Taylor said. “The goal was to spread pickleball far and wide, and we made no small plans.”

Taylor said the business’ motto is “For players, by players,” and they don’t hire anyone who isn’t a pickleball player. They also offer group and private lessons as well as host tournaments and private events.

All Pickled! courts are private, separated by soundproofed barriers, and membership is limited to maintain the personal touch.

Taylor said other locations’ memberships are full with a waitlist.

Courts can be reserved through the Pickled! app or by telephone, with open play times available, for which reservations are not required. Pricing is based on court time and will cost $12 an hour for members and $24 an hour for nonmembers. Open play times will cost $5 a session for members and $10 a session for nonmembers. Rates are subject to increase during peak hours.

Membership fees range from $30 to $80 a month with different membership levels granting specific privileges. For more information, visit ugotpickled.com.