PickleRage to transform Big Lots space in south Fort Myers

Pickleball’s surge in popularity is spilling over into real estate, where the fast-growing sport is increasingly influencing new developments and property deals. 

PickleRage, a pickleball franchise headquartered in Miami Beach, is planned for south Fort Myers and will fill about 42,000 square feet of space previously used by Big Lots at 15271 McGregor Blvd. 

“Everything changes,” said Tom Strauss, a broker with LQ Commercial. He negotiated the lease, a process that took about 10 months. “Everything evolves. You've got to be able to make some moves that work. You have to get creative.” 

Ed Pickett, the PickleRage franchise owner, first noticed the sport when he saw tennis courts being converted to pickleball while commuting to his former job as an Allstate Insurance agent in Cape Coral. 

About a year after selling his insurance agency, Pickett discovered PickleRage through social media ads seeking investors and decided to explore the fast-growing pickleball industry. 

Pickett plans to invest about $1 million in converting the former Big Lots store into 13 indoor pickleball courts. He has an athletic background, having played catcher for the University of Maine baseball team in the early 1980s and competing in the Little League World Series in the 1970s. But he’s never played pickleball. 

“I have never played, but I plan on it,” Pickett said. He envisions having about five employees, including a general manager. “It’s a great location, not too far from the beach.” 

PickleRage should open early next year, by February at the latest, Pickett said. 

“The architect is working on the drawing,” he said. “That’s going to be done in a couple of weeks. Hopefully, we’ll have liquor in there in a bar in the back. There’s also going to be a pickleball simulator in the back. 

“There’s not a lot of buildout. There’s only one wall to knock down. It’s pretty much courts, fencing and paint.” 

The courts will be state-of-the-art, he said, using PickleRage’s Cushion X system. 

“It’s a cushioned court,” Pickett said. “It’s a softer surface with a little more cushioning. A lot of them are more like concrete. This one allows you to play longer.” 

Pickett spent 43 years in insurance, following the legacy of his father, who spent 37 years in insurance. 

From insurance to pickleball may not seem like a typical business shift, Pickett said, but it’s the right time. 

“Pickleball just seems to be exploding down here,” Pickett said. “It’s everywhere. And anybody can play.”