Robert Thompson quit his job at Punch Bowl Social two years ago.
Thompson said that he thought there were other interesting things to do since he was in theeatertainment industry most of his career.
Thompson is planning to open Camp Pickle, an indoor and outdoor facility with food and drinks, in two locations in Alabama and a third in Colorado by the year 2024.
Thompson founded Punch Bowl Social, a restaurant with an arcade and bowling alley, in Denver in 2012 and eventually grew it to 20 locations and 120 million dollars in revenue.
He resigned as CEO in August 2020 after the company was shut down due to the Pandemic. The bowl filed for Chapter 11 protection in December.
After two years of business, Thompson decided to close up his business.
Thompson said that Camp Pickle is an extension of what he has been doing with eatertainment for almost 25 years. It’s about taking social activities, whether it’s bowling and karaoke rooms or pickleball, and creating a design-forward environment around it.
He said that he had been using a mousetrap to compete against the casual dining people.
Thompson bought the Frenchmen Hotel in New Orleans and is working on some other restaurant ideas.
He opened a Mediterranean restaurant next to the Hotel Indigo in Denver.
Thompson said that it is easy for him to get up to speed on a deal since he knows Denver well. I get many calls a month about opportunities in and around the Denver area, and I am there frequently for Three Saints Revival. It feels like it’s home.
Thompson decided to take advantage of the growing popularity of the game of pickleball, in which players use paddles to hit a plastic ball over a net.
The sports and fitness industry association named it the country’s fastest-growing sport for the second year in a row. According to the association, there are over 4 million players in the country.
Thompson thinks most of his customers will be casual players having fun. Pickleball was popular with older people. A 25-year-old can do with a beer what an 80 year-old can do with a bike. There will be 40 million players by the year 2030, but there are only 20 million tennis and golf players.
The plan is to have 10 Camp Pickle locations open by the second quarter of the century.
The developer introduced him to the person who leased the land to Thompson, which is why he is opening a camp there. It will be over 50,000 square feet when it opens.
Thompson is in the process of purchasing 5 acres at 10959 E. Easter Ave., which is part of the group that owns the land.
There will be 14 indoor and outdoor pickleball courts and restaurant and bar seating, as well as games like horseshoes, darts, bowling and shuffle board, in a 70,000- square-foot facility.
The design of the space will be reminiscent of a 1940s rustic summer camp.
Food will be influenced by wood-fired cooking techniques with Front Range and Mexican twists, as well as playful drinks like a cocktail served out of a Coleman cooler.
The first 10 years of the business would be funded by a group of investors, he said.
Thompson is not the first to open a business in the state.
The founder of the American Pickleball Association opened a restaurant in the Mission Commons Shopping Center.
Chicken N Pickle has six locations and three more are in the works, as well as Courtside Kitchen in Fort Worth.
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The story was reported by Business Den.