‘One-stop shop’ Swing-N-Pickle makes long-awaited debut

Kalvin Shrader’s time in youth sports was brief, but it helped shape a mission he incorporates into nearly all of his business ventures today — creating those opportunities for others.

“(Growing up,) I didn’t have much discipline. I fought a lot and it made me ineligible to play,” Shrader said. “So when I got older, I wanted to give back to those kids and try to keep them out of trouble and give them a place where they have a home.”

Those places are Duke City Cages, Rio Rancho Cages, The Clubs Foundation and, now, Swing-N-Pickle, which held its grand opening in Albuquerque earlier this month.

Swing-N-Pickle is a multiuse entertainment center with pickleball courts, batting cages, golf simulators and a bar and restaurant at 1700 Eubank NE.

The business concept came to Shrader, who also is an owner of High Point Grill, more than a year ago, when he and his family were visiting a popular restaurant and entertainment complex known as Chicken N Pickle in Arizona. Shrader and his wife thought to themselves, “We could do this,” he said.

The concept took its first step toward reality when the couple drove by the 20,000-square-foot Eubank building, formerly a furniture warehouse, as it was going out of business. They stopped by, noted the site dimensions, and Shrader went home and drew a blueprint for the business on his beer fridge.

With so much space, they thought, why limit it to just pickleball?

“We love baseball, so let’s throw baseball in there,” Shrader said. “We just started to piece it together. We’re thinking, ‘We could put golf, let’s get a bar. Let’s turn this into a party and be a one-stop shop.’ And here we are.”

It took several months to renovate the space — an undertaking that was delayed after the building was broken into. The culprits stole all of Shrader’s tools, the golf simulators and damaged the pickleball courts.

“It was awful,” Shrader said. But with the help of friends, family and business partners Ashley Romero and Joey Dailey, the business got back on track.

Swing-N-Pickle’s grand opening was “unreal,” drawing in so many people that visitors had to start parking down the street, Shrader said. Since then, Friday through Sunday have been a popular time for people to enjoy the business’ four pickleball courts, two golf simulators and four baseball and softball batting cages, 38 televisions, arcade games and outdoor cornhole area.

Swing-N-Pickle’s sports offerings are available through reservations, but walk-ins are also welcome. Customers can pay $30 for a half-hour or $55 for an hour, though longer sessions are available.

Monday through Thursday have proven to be more of a challenge for the center, Shrader said. He and his partners are marketing the business’ large event space as ideal for corporate gatherings, team-bonding sessions and karaoke nights to keep busy during weekdays.

The owners are also pushing Swing-N-Pickle’s “great, elevated bar food” and drinks from a subleased company called Rally — run by the same people who own Central Bodega and Mission Winery.

While opening was a challenge, Shrader said customer interactions — from kids playing and laughing to people coming in to buy a mattress only to be surprised at the transformation into Swing-N-Pickle — have made the long journey worth it.

He’s even considering doing it all again, with a potential West Side location currently in the works. Shrader’s vision is for Swing-N-Pickle to become a longtime entertainment staple in the Albuquerque area.

“I just hope we stay alive. I really hope Albuquerque supports this,” Shrader said. “We didn’t go cheap on anything. Everything’s very nice, and we didn’t cut any corners. So we need Albuquerque to come see what we did, and if they do, I think we’ll be here for a while.”

Kylie Garcia covers retail and real estate for the Journal. You can reach her at kgarcia@abqjournal.com.