I fondly recall planning and provisioning for a family road trip approximately 20 years ago where our young family was going to travel down I-5 to see the Redwoods of California (You really can drive a car through a tree) and return on Hwy 101 to Seattle. One of the planned stops on the southern leg was Crater Lake. In preparation for the trip, I took my sub three year old daughter to REI to purchase her first hiking boots, so she had proper footwear to hike down to the lake, go on the boat ride to Wizard Island, and hike back to the car. I told her it was going to be one of the most special and difficult hikes of her life and she needed “magic boots” to do it successfully. Properly fitted and coached up by a knowledgeable staff member who provide superior customer service she left REI prepared for the expedition filled with enthusiasm and confidence. On the trail, the girl that her track coach would later call “her little engine” conquered the challenge without a request to be carried. She & I were both still smiles at dinner that night at the historic Crater Lake Lodge.
REI in many ways is as iconic a Pacific Northwest company, or more correctly a CO-OP (Still love my dividend), as Boeing, Microsoft, Amazon, or Nike. The percentage of people living in Washington & Oregon who have shopped at one of their stores or online likely rivals any other retail vendor short of a grocery store chain. I was sad to read recently that REI’s first full-time employee in Seattle and future CEO, Jim Whittaker (https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2026/04/08/jim-whittaker-dead-mount-everest/) had passed away. His outdoor achievements are legendary from being the first American to summit Everest to leading a group of special needs individuals to the top of Mount Rainier. As the brother of a Nordic sport Special Olympian with a treasure chest of medals who skis for the Skihawks (https://www.skihawksracingteam.org/) and “LOVES” going to REI his efforts supporting the handicapped community resonated with me.
IBA, as a fifty-one year Pacific Northwest business brokerage firm with ten offices spread throughout Washington and Oregon, is blessed to have supported entrepreneurs in the region for numerous decades who incorporated support for outdoor activities into their business model through the facilitation of transactions where privately held companies and family businesses were sold and purchased. Few entrepreneurship niches have been as rewarding for IBA to serve as this space as on one side of the transaction we have had the ability to help business owners monetize their vision, execution, and hard work when they retire and seek to find a suitable successor as a steward for their brand, employees, and customers while on the other we have gotten the opportunity to place an entrepreneur at the helm of a company that will allow them combine a passion with a vocation. Going to work in an environment where you get to learn and talk about something you are interested in or do by choice in your free time is never a job.
The following are some examples of businesses sold by IBA that have an outdoor focused customer base:
2nd Ascent – In Seattle REI is the place to outfit weekend warriors and families for outdoor activities. They do that very well. 2nd Ascent (https://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/second-ascent-drops-game-balls-for-outdoor-gear-1068633.php), in Ballard, was where people went to get outfitted to summit Denali, Everest, or travel the Inca Trail. The entrepreneurial story of its founders, Greg & Paula Shaw, was one of my favorites to learn about firsthand as a mergers & acquisitions intermediary.
Tom Bihn – In the Devil Wears Prada, Nigel tells a story about a little boy skipping soccer practice to learn how to sew with aspirations of entering the fashion industry (https://youtu.be/zJf-J5RXxw8?si=Db5SvU3Iz_nZmclz). Tom Bihn similarly started in Santa Cruz on a quest to produce the world’s best backpack. Years later his namesake brand (https://www.tombihn.com/) is in such demand that it releases limited edition products that sell out in a few days of entering the market.
Marine Servicenter – The Pacific Northwest offers one of the best environments in the United States for boating enthusiasts to pursue their passions. Jim & Jeanna Rard for many years combined their love for sailing with operation of a boat dealership and repair yard. During their lives, in addition to being successful entrepreneurs, they sailed around the world with their young children and created an annual event called Sail Alaska (https://www.cruisingworld.com/pied-piper-pacific-northwest/)where a regatta of sailboats travels from Seattle to Alaska. The Rard’s story was told in IBA’s American Dream Achieved series (https://ibainc.com/blog/nesha-ruther/the-story-of-jeanna-jim-rard-marine-servicenter/).
Crow’s Feet Commons – The high desert of Bend and the surrounding area is an outdoor enthusiast’s paradise with opportunities available to ski, rock climb at Smith Rock State Park (https://stateparks.oregon.gov/index.cfm?do=park.profile&parkId=36), horseback ride, and bike ride. It was an honor and pleasure for IBA to represent ownership in the sale of Crow’s Feet Commons (https://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/destinations/best-bike-shops-america/), a business where generations of Deschutes County residents have bought their bikes.
Play It Again Sports – IBA is commonly recognized as the premier business brokerage firm in the Pacific Northwest for the facilitation of the sale of franchised business models. It was with great honor that IBA was asked and was given the opportunity to facilitate the sale of one of the highest performing franchises in the Play It Again Sports system in Woodinville, Washington, a place where people could sell used items, upgrade gear at affordable pricing, and rent skis prior to hitting the slopes of Steven’s Pass, Snoqualmie Pass, and Crystal Mountain. The story of the entrepreneur, Rick Bauman, who took that franchise to lofty heights was told in IBA’s American Dream Achieved series (https://ibainc.com/blog/nesha-ruther/the-story-of-rick-bauman-play-it-again-sports/).
Performance Footwear – Lake Chelan is an alpine lake gem of Washington. Generations of families return to it annually, including IBA’s Bill Southwell (https://ibainc.com/blog/nesha-ruther/the-story-of-bill-southwell-ibas-director-of-operations-for-spokane-the-inland-empire/)
to ski, do water sports, hike, bike, and golf. The premier retail store in the area for athletic and outdoor footwear is Performance footwear (https://performance-footwear.com/), a company that IBA had the honor of selling.
Fisherman’s Marine & Outdoors – Anyone who has put a line in the water or hunted in Oregon has likely made a visit to Fisherman’s Marine & Outdoors (https://fishermans-marine.com/). IBA was selected to sell the business by the 2nd generation ownership of the company when retirement was sought to enhance opportunities to move their fishing activities to the Florida Keys on a regular basis. When you have caught trophy size salmon, steelhead, trout, flounder, and sturgeon and helped millions of people do the same, a desire to pull up the lines and go after bonefish, sailfish, and grouper is not a goal that should be deferred indefinitely.
Kirshner’s Trailers – Commonly to enjoy an outdoor or athletic experience it is necessary to transport equipment and supplies far from home. For many years, Kirshner’s Trailers was one of the premier vendors of horse trailers in the Seattle metropolitan area. IBA had the honor of representing the Kirshner family in the sale of the business. Unfortunately (or fortunately for many), Woodinville which was once the horse capital of the area is now a wine tourist destination and this highly successful business model was forced to relocate (https://www.kirshnertrailersales.com/) with the real estate development that occurred in the area. Hard to allocate a large footprint to dozens of trailers when space can be allocated to sell a high volume of medal winning wine.
Pasco Golfland – It has been said that some of the most beautiful parks in the world are walked by golfers. In 2026, IBA successfully facilitated the sale of Pasco Golfland (https://www.pascogolfland.com/) in the Tri-Cities. Wildlife is periodically seen on the course, especially by those looking for balls in the rough.
IBA is known in the marketplace as a business brokerage firm that prefers to lean into our knowledge, experience, and skills developed through what we have done in the past (4400+ successfully completed transactions) rather than talk about what we will do when supporting our clients. However, we would be negligent if we did not share information on a couple of wonderful acquisition opportunities that we currently have on the market for sale for outdoor enthusiasts in the spring of 2026. In the Seattle metro area, IBA is presently representing for sale a bike & ski retailer with the opportunity to also acquire the real estate. In the manufacturing sector, we are representing the fabricator of a patented product that enhances living quality in locations far from civilization. On the Oregon coast we are representing a bar & grill where fisherman come to tell tales about the ones they caught and the other whoppers that got away and a retailer where young and old acquire a hoodie or t shirt to remember their time at Cannon Beach or success at Skee-Ball against family members in Seaside.
If you are the owner of an outdoor or athletic oriented business, IBA would welcome the opportunity to meet with you, learn about your exit strategy objectives, the business, and provide an overview of our professional services. All communication with IBA is held in strict confidence. IBA only seeks compensation from our clients upon successful completion of a project. If you are interested in combining a passion for athletics or the outdoors with your vocation, IBA would like to help facilitate achievement of that objective.
I consider the Pacific Northwest to be the best place to live in America from May – October. I feel blessed to have called the region my home for over fifty years. It is my wish that your months ahead are filled with time on the water, in the trees, and taking in vistas that can only be reached by climbing 1000’s of feet in altitude.
IBA, the Pacific Northwest’s premier business brokerage firm since 1975, is available as an information resource to the media, business brokerage, mergers & acquisitions, real estate, legal, accounting, banking, and wealth management communities on subjects relevant to the purchase & sale of privately held companies and family businesses. IBA is recognized as one of the best business brokerage firms in the nation based on its long track record of successfully negotiating “win-win” business sale transactions in environments of full disclosure employing “best practices”.