Kimmel Acquires Local Sporting Goods Company

Longtime Spokane team sporting goods dealer Kimmel Athletic Supply Co. has bought the assets of Redmond’s and is now operating its newest Kimmel location there.

The nearly 8,000-square-foot store, located at 16101 NE 87th St., is open for business, says Brian Davis, the Spokane-based CFO of Kimmel. He says that Kimmel is in the process of bringing in its product brands and doing some minor remodeling of the store’s interior.

“The signs are up, and we opened the doors as Kimmel on March 31,” Davis said. Because this is a very busy time for Kimmel with spring sports gearing up, Davis said the location will wait until later this spring to hold a grand opening event.

Kimmel, which Jack Kimmel opened in Spokane in 1969, also operates outlets in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and in Yakima, as well as a sales office in Dallas.

Davis’ father, Bill Davis, joined the company in 1989 and is now the company’s president. A number of Jack Kimmel’s family members have been involved in the company, and a few still work there, along with several employees who have worked at Kimmel for about 30 years.

In Redmond, Kimmel has hired 25 full- and part-time employees, Davis says.

Kimmel does a large portion of its business with institutions, providing everything from playground balls to athletic team uniforms for professional football teams. Except for hunting, skiing, and backpacking equipment, Kimmel sells gear for nearly all sports, Davis said.

“We go for the best lines (of sporting goods) in the business, but we can help people at any price point,” he said. Kimmel also has its own screen print and embroidery shop, so it does all of its own decorating on team uniforms.

Davis says the acquisition was mainly a matter of opportunity for Kimmel when it learned that the previous owner, Chad Baerwaldt, was interested in selling the company.

“We’ve had salesmen in Western Washington for several years,” Davis said, adding that the company is excited to expand its operations in a bigger way. Kimmel is working on increasing its selection of gear for sports that have more participants on the state’s west side, such as lacrosse, he said.

Davis said Kimmel looks forward to becoming a staple athletic supply store in Redmond as it is in Spokane, and building the kind of long term relationships with people in the community here that it enjoys in Spokane.

“It’s amazing to me a lot of coaches come in, and they are people I played sports with in high school,” Davis said.