INDUSTRY PROFILE
Selkirk is Spanning a Range of Innovation in Pickleball
When it comes to small family businesses , the
Barnes family of Coeur d ’ Alene , Idaho , could be the archetypical model . Founded by brothers Rob and Mike Barnes , their father Jim , and Rob ’ s father-in-law , Russell Heistuman , Selkirk is an example of what a few entrepreneurs can do when their hearts are in the game .
Named after the Selkirk mountain range that stretches from the Barnes ’ native Idaho into Canada , the company is the result of the family discovering pickleball , falling in love with it , and then deciding they could make things better for everyone by building better paddles . Heistuman , a professional designer and marketer , came up with the Selkirk name , and the family went to work .
“ We ’ ve been playing pickleball for almost eight years ,” Rob said . “ When we started , there wasn ’ t anything that you would call a brand in the space . Stuff didn ’ t last very long . Mike and I previously owned a business for another sport we founded when younger , so we discussed it with my father-in-law and decided we could build a lifestyle brand within the sport and offer players a more reliable , betterperforming product .”
Jim Barnes had a construction business , became a fire fighter and then retired before coming out of retirement to serve as the production manager for the new business . As a supporter of his sons from the very beginning with their first sporting goods venture , started when they were just in their teens , Barnes figured out how to manufacture and distribute the Selkirk equipment to the market .
Today , Selkirk continues to manufacture its lines out of Hayden , Idaho , and is ready to face any uptick in the market that would result in a higher demand for its products .
“ Pickleball is a very fast-growing sport and we ’ ve set ourselves up to be scalable ,” Mike said . “ We try to make
sure that players can get our paddles from wherever they can , but , at the same time , we focus on aiming distribution toward the smaller outlets where you find people involved in community — instructors teaching lessons , bag dealers , pro shops that support their local communities .”
By being a whisper away from their market , Selkirk can actively straddle the demands of making high-end paddles for pros as well as entry-level products for beginners by focusing on the needs of both .
“ We ’ re always pushing the limits for the highest performance and quality ,” Mike said . “ We were the very first company to come out with a lifetime warranty on our products , which was unprecedented at the time . Some of the unique things we did along the way to meet pro demand was design low-profile edgeguards that are lightweight and extremely durable . And we created a line of $ 30 polymer honeycomb paddles to grow the sport for novices . Everyone agrees that beginners using wood
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