2 Idaho brothers to open Meridian store. A magazine calls their products the sport’s best
Pickleball has become a big thing in the Boise area. Large indoor pickleball courts have popped up around the Treasure Valley, drawing the attention of a professional tour, and cities have grappled with how to keep up with demand for more courts in public parks. Boise has had to put up signs telling pickleballers to stop playing on city tennis courts, and some homeowners have filed complaints about noise from nearby pickleball games.
Now two Idaho brothers are deepening the Treasure Valley’s role in America’s fastest-growing sport. They’re opening a store to sell their pickleball paddles, which MensHealth magazine decreed last month are the sport’s finest.
Brothers Rob and Mike Barnes founded their business, Selkirk Sport, in their father’s basement in Coeur d’Alene in 2014 while they were still in high school. Their father, Jim Barnes, is the company’s production manager. They’re now based in nearby Hayden, just south of the Selkirk Mountains, which stretch from the Idaho Panhandle into British Columbia.
The Meridian store will be their first brick-and-mortar store. Called the Selkirk Pickleball Pro Shop, the pickleball-only store is set to open on Thursday, April 3, at 3230 N. Eagle Road in a small retail center at the northeast corner of Eagle and Ustick roads across the parking lot from a Lowe’s home-improvement store.
Besides the paddles, the store will sell Selkirk apparel and accessories, and will include an indoor skinny court where customers can test paddles before purchasing, a news release announcing the opening said. The store will have trained paddle experts to provide personalized paddle consultations based on a player’s style and skill level, the release said.
“It was important for us to open our flagship store in Idaho,” Rob Barnes said in the release. The co-founder and co-CEO described the Boise area as “the natural choice.”
“It’s a growing community with an active pickleball scene, and we wanted to give back by creating a hub that supports and grows the game locally,” he said.
The store’s opening comes just in time for pickleballers to gear up for the Challenger Series, a national pro tour with divisions open to amateurs, which will pit-stop in Meridian in May.
The new store plans to hold a grand opening celebration on Saturday, April 12, which will include food trucks, paddle demos, and on-side giveaways and other promotions, according to Brynn Grissom, a representative for Selkirk. The celebration is scheduled to last from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
