Why Pickle on Penn Skipped the Warehouse and Built a Country Club Instead

When everyone else was converting grocery stores and warehouses into pickleball facilities, Kelly Bodner went a different direction. She built Indiana's first ground-up, purpose-built indoor pickleball club from dirt — and modeled it after a country club. The result? Pickle on Penn in Carmel, Indiana: eight cushioned courts, locker rooms stocked with the essentials, a boutique pro shop, and a restaurant and bar overlooking the courts. Members pay an initiation fee and monthly dues in exchange for free court time, free open play, and high-end amenities. In this episode, Kelly shares: -Why she chose a membership model over pay-to-play -What the country club approach gets right about retention and community -How she broke up cliques and built real friendships among members -The truth about adding a restaurant to your pickleball club -What she'd do differently — and why she'd do it all again Whether you're an operator, investor or pickleball entrepreneur, this episode is packed with honest, hard-won insight from someone who built something genuinely different in a crowded market. 🎙️ Guest: Kelly Bodner, Owner, Pickle on Penn | Carmel, Indiana To stay in the loop on the latest trends in the pickleball club space, subscribe to the Pickleball Innovators newsletter: pickleballinnovators.com/subscribe 🎾 Topics: Club membership models, country club pickleball, facility design, community building, restaurant strategy