Although pickleball dates back to the 1960s, it has garnered a lot of attention over the past few years. In fact, participation in the sport has grown by an average of 223.5% since 2022. Interest was spurred during the COVID pandemic, giving people a way to be active and social while still allowing for physical distancing. These five small businesses saw the need for more pickleball gear in the market and also wanted to create more stylish designs.
LUXE
Pickleball enthusiast Kiana Lake decided to establish her own brand of paddles with a feminine aesthetic. To merge her idea of high-performance products with cute designs, she called on her brother Colby Stoker to bring the vision to life. A competitive pickleball player and entrepreneur himself, Stoker was a great asset for Lake to get her small business off the ground.
LUXE launched in 2022 with the help of a third teammate, Colby’s wife, Rylee. Together, the three owners fine-tuned their product to meet their quality standards and have built a community around their company. “Instead of sending PR packages to lots of influencers, we like to send PR to our customers! It is our way of supporting the people who support us,” Lake said.
LUXE offers three tiers of paddles that provide a range of control and power: Leisure, Ace, and Luxury. These tiers translate to beginner, intermediate, and advanced play. The price point increases with each tier, and the look of the luxury line is a bit more serious, but for the most part, the prints are vibrant and playful.
Recess
Childhood friends Grace Moore and Maggie Brown started playing pickleball during the COVID quarantine. Although they quickly fell in love with the sport, they didn’t love the gear that came with it.
“It just didn’t fit our vibe,” Moore said of the styles available at that time. So they opted to take matters into their own hands.
Inspired by their days on the playground, Moore and Brown founded Recess in 2021. Niche paddle designs tap into specific interests, feature popular places, and highlight current trends. All of the custom paddles and most of the limited edition paddles are produced in Austin, Texas. The small outfitter even has a “design your own” option.
In addition to paddles, Recess carries athletic sets, branded clothing, and accessories. The company primarily sells direct online, but its products are sold at a few select retailers.
Although pickleball dates back to the 1960s, it has garnered a lot of attention over the past few years. In fact, participation in the sport has grown by an average of 223.5% since 2022.
Helios
A tenured data scientist, Ivy Sun found respite in the sport of pickleball during a difficult season. Sun established the technology-driven and Greek-inspired pickleball brand Helios in 2023. Named after the Greek sun god that represents power, life force, and luminance, the small business aims to craft premium paddles with the help of industry elites and academic labs to ensure top performance.
Sun’s love of the game began at Equinox, where she found a sense of belonging. And as much as she enjoyed her job, she felt there was a missing piece. She’s found a greater sense of purpose through this enterprise, and even though some days she’s working from sunup until sundown, right now she feels she is the best she can be, Sun said.
Helios has collaborated on designs for prominent names such as Columbia Sportswear, Poshmark, and EOS, and it became the first pickleball brand to be sold at Nordstrom last year. Always looking for ways to help players connect, the team is currently innovating a high-tech paddle with an integrated chip that shares contact information when tapped to a phone. Staying true to her roots, Sun has an ongoing partnership with Equinox in which Helios donates custom paddles to her New York sports club and sponsors its pickleball tournaments.
Tangerine Paddle
Taylor and Carly Llewellyn founded Tangerine Paddle to embody the fun spirit of pickleball and reflect it in the design of the gear. Like many people, the Llewellyns began playing this game during the pandemic and noticed that the equipment lacked beauty. They recognized that the popularity of the sport was growing and created a prototype bag that combined functionality with style.
This first product generated buzz and had customers asking for paddles. Putting a personal touch on their products, the patterns are inspired by places the couple loves, including Hawaii, Maine, and the Mediterranean. The Llewellyns are also influenced by captivating photographs and textiles.
Tangerine Paddle has partnered with brands such as Rothy’s and Criquet to extend their collections into new categories. The small business has also produced branded paddles for hotels such as The Four Seasons and The Sagamore Resort.
Bread & Butter Pickleball Co.
After serving in the Marines and a stint as a street fighter, Doug Sapusek became an entrepreneur. A Vespa accident caused injuries that ended his fighting career and led him to pickleball during his recovery.
Bread & Butter Pickleball Co. gave Sapusek a creative outlet and a new passion project. Located in Vero Beach, Florida, it is a family business with distinct and humorous branding.
Drawing from the owner’s history in battle and the ring, the three paddle types Bread & Butter offers are called The Filth, The Fat Boy, and The Shogun. Each possesses its own respective speciality — power, control, and a balance of the two. The Filth seems to be the most popular of the three.
Aurora and Devin Sapusek joined their dad’s venture, contributing their expertise to streamline operations, manage the office, and crunch the numbers. This gives Doug more time to design new paddles and grow the sport on the whole. Bread & Butter started an official brand ambassador program about a year ago as an additional marketing avenue to work with professional players.
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Published
Emily Iverson
