Founder Story: Pickle & Perk by Steph and Dave Mayer

We have an exciting startup to introduce: Pickle & Perk. Founded by Steph and Dave Mayer, this unique venue combines the love for coffee with the lively game of pickleball.

It's a place where the community can gather to sip, shop, and serve. The concept came to life after the founders conducted street surveys in their town. Many locals expressed a desire for more activities, leading to the creation of this innovative spot.

Here, people can enjoy a cup of coffee and engage in friendly, sometimes feisty, pickleball matches. It’s a fresh way to energize a sleepy town and bring people together for some fun and relaxation.

Join us as we explore how Pickle & Perk is waking up their community and creating a vibrant new hangout.

Hello! We're Steph and Dave Mayer and we're the founders of Pickle & Perk. The idea of this start up grew from taking on-the-street surveys and asking citizens what they thought of our town and what they wanted to see, nearly every response was the same, "we love the town, but it's a little sleepy and there's not enough to do here".

So we set out to bring something people of all ages could do and in that the pickleball cafe of Pickle & Perk was born. Pickle & Perk is a sip, shop, serve mixed use design. It's a boutique version design where we pair coffee and pickleball in an intimate space.

People can dine, drink and dink (pickleball term). To further expand the experience we incorporated a stay-and-play option where tourist and visitors alike can book a stay above the cafe to fully emerse themselves in all Pickle & Perk has to offer.

Pickle & Perk, founded by Steph and Dave Mayer, offers a unique "sip, shop, serve" experience, blending coffee with the energetic game of pickleball in a boutique setting. This innovative concept originated from community feedback in their sleepy town, expressing a need for more local activities.

The result is a vibrant social hub where residents and tourists alike can engage in "dine, drink, and dink" activities, with the additional option of booking a stay to fully immerse themselves in what Pickle & Perk offers.

This startup revitalizes small town America, specifically targeting towns like Arcadia Valley that have experienced economic decline. By introducing a unique recreational activity, Pickle & Perk not only boosts tourism but also stimulates the local job market and fosters community engagement.

Despite initial resistance, the community’s excitement grew as they saw the transformation brought about by Pickle & Perk, changing from skepticism to anticipation.

Looking forward, Pickle & Perk plans to expand their concept to include restoring an old movie theater, enhancing their role in community revitalization. This ongoing development aims to create more opportunities for local businesses and sustain the cultural and economic revival initiated by this creative venture.

Pickle & Perk is igniting a small town revitalization in small town America at a time when these towns, especially this one, needed our attention the most. SO much rich history is rooted in this area and Arcadia Valley specifically was a dying town. Since construction began a snowball effect has taken place and more businesses are open on Main Street NOW than there has been in over a decade (dare we say TWO decades).

Problems we're solving:

We did something totally out of left field: we built something this town has never seen and went against culture. They way we see it, was whatever was being done the last 20 years wasn't working, so we went in the complete opposition direction.

Over time the community was able to see what we were building and eventually people started to have faith and get excited. We've tried to share the word everywhere and when it comes up in conversation were told it's a very scalable idea and others asking if we plan to franchise. You never know where the conversation will lead once you start sharing and talking.

We delt with occasional small town resistance; people don't always want change even when it is in the better interest of residents. Change can be the fear of the unknown, it disrupts peoples comfort zones or the status quo, and people have to figure out how to come together for a brighter future which is not always as easy as it sounds.

Over time people witnessed the long days and hours we put into the work, they saw the building transform into some beautiful, and through that we built trust with skeptics. The attitude of people went from ew why would you ever open that here, to WHEN are you GOING to open, we can't wait to enjoy this place and play some pickleball. That has actually been a very rewarding part of this journey.

We're missing on the growth of the pickleball courts. We'd love to growth the start-up with additional courts to increase revenue and develop pickleball leagues. We would still keep the amount of courts small enough to foster the boutique environment but additional courts would allow for more customer court time and drive tourism with pickleball leagues.

We reached out to people who believe in us and have seen our track record of proven success. Through that support we were able to come up with a plan to get Pickle & Perk off the ground. Build a relationship with your local banker- we were told that a lot but couldn't figure out how to create that relationship.

When you have a proven track record and they see the potential of having you in their community they may take more of a risk with you. Tap into resources for the small businesses and grants.

Focus in on your niche, are you women owned? There are often grants and loans specifically related to that, Rural communities and small towns have different resources.

Keep searching until you find something related to your niche, and last tap into angel investors but be prepare with a solid business plan and visual if you have the ability to add that with it.

It's difficult to get people invest when they can't see the final product. We believed in our product and concept and just went for it.

We're continuing with the small town revitalization by restoring an old movie theatre, the theatre was in operation during the 1920s.

The new concept will pay homage to the Old State Theatre with summer and fall movie nights for community members, and it will foster small business owners in a boutique collective environment.

Utilize local hardware stores for supplies and capitalize on no interest or low interest credit cards to help move your build process along.

Coffee will never go out of style as its a billion dollar industry and pickleball has exploded in popularity. Although some people worry pickleball is a fad we think it's her to stay. We're excited about the growth of the sport and where it will take us over the next 5-10 years.

Enjoy the process. The experience and beauty of developing and living is found in the process, embrace it. Embrace the hurdles. Embrace the challenges.

Things can get stressful especially when it involves building and funding but this is where some of the best growth happens and there is promise of a masterpiece in the making... even though you might not be able to see it through the hurdles.