Pickleball lovers in Atlanta will soon have more places to play their favorite sport.
Dill Dinkers has signed Daniel and Laura Hardeman, alongside Destin Dunham, Evelyn Orenbuch and Stuart Napshin, to bring 30 locations of the indoor pickleball franchise to Atlanta. The move marks Dill Dinkers’ largest signed regional development agreement.
“We learned about Dill Dinkers through our friends who had been raving about the brand,” the Hardemans said in a statement shared with What Now Atlanta. “As we became pickleball players, we realized how much of a demand there is for indoor pickleball facilities in Atlanta. When we connected with Will and Denise Richards, the founders of Dill Dinkers, there was an emphasis on providing top-notch facilities and fostering a sense of community that stuck out to us.”
They said the increasing popularity of the sport in the Southeast makes Atlanta a great location for the concept, as players seek more indoor courts that can be enjoyed year-round regardless of weather conditions.
The team is eyeing locations in Cherokee, Cobb, Fulton, Clayton, Henry and DeKalb counties, including at abandoned malls, warehouses and other commercial spaces. The ideal space for each location is around 15,000 square feet or more in order to offer six to 12 courts.
They are targeting a summer 2024 opening for the first facility.
“It is really up to when we find the space, but we are actively working towards bringing the first Dill Dinkers location to Atlanta soon,” they told What Now Atlanta.
Dill Dinkers was founded in 2022, with the first location opening in Columbia, Maryland. The brand takes an inclusive approach to pickleball, welcoming players of all ages and skill levels.
The company now has four locations in Maryland with another location set to open in Manassas, Virginia in April. Since the announcement of its nationwide franchise launch last September, the brand has 12 signed developers in Texas, Washington, D.C., North Carolina, Connecticut, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Arizona, Western Maryland, Northern Virginia and Pennsylvania, totaling 154 ocations in development.
