New pickleball & backyard store joins Walt Whitman Shops

Huntington Chamber of Commerce officials joined L.I. Pickleball founder Doug Connell for a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, Sept. 25, to mark the opening of the new L.I. Backyard Store at Walt Whitman Shops.

The three-hour grand opening party featured raffle prizes for pickleball paddles and equipment, t-shirts, backpacks and more.

Located at 160 Walt Whitman Road in Huntington, the new space combines an outdoor living store with a pickleball pro shop, offering myriad pickleball gear in addition to outdoor kitchen equipment, landscape design, lighting, shade structures and more, including construction of residential pickleball courts.

Pickleball has experienced explosive growth in recent years, and Long Island is no exception.

The Island is now home to numerous indoor pickleball facilities, including the 60,000 square-foot Pickleball Heaven in Medford, and Pickleball Smash-It in Westbury, which offers Airbnb-style hourly court reservations. Indoor tennis and sports facilities like Sportime have also been expanding their offerings to include pickleball to meet the booming demand for court time.