A few years ago, commercial builder Jim Elmer gave good friend Ken Scott some scrap wood for a nebulous experiment, and Scott more than returned the favor by creating what would become the foundation of a new business venture for the two long-time golfing buddies.


Scott had constructed a pyramid, about one foot long by one foot wide and less than a foot tall, that was designed to serve as a golf ball display. He later brought in a bucket of balls and stacked them on the pyramid for Elmer, who is president of James W. Elmer Construction Co., of Spokane.


I stared at it for about four weeks, then I called (Scott) up and said, Do you think we can sell those things? Elmer says.


The two men had been thinking along the same lines, as often happens with good friends, and subsequently founded Pyramid Products Inc., which wholesales ready-to-assemble versions of the pyramid to golf pro shops and retail stores in addition to selling them directly to consumers via the Internet.


Scott died of cancer earlier this year, but Elmer and his family have continued to build the business. Elmers wife, Sharon, and the couples son-in-law, Paul Lineback, manage it.


Pyramid Products, which first started selling the displays in fall 1998, has obtained a design patent for its pyramid-shaped products and currently sells four golf ball displays that hold 23, 41, 61, or 123 balls, respectively. The pyramid that holds 41 balls is the companys best seller so far, Sharon Elmer says.


The pyramids, which retail for between $12 and $75, are made of ash wood, plastic, or both. The wood typically is stained a light, primary oak or darker, northern cherry color. Those made entirely or partly of plastic sit on a turntable also made of plastic that allows the display to be rotated. The all-wood pyramids dont have turntables.


A pyramid of golf balls stacked on one of the companys display units is reasonably sound. For instance, one ball can be removed from any spot in a full pyramid, and because of the way the balls are stacked atop each other and rest against the pyramid, the rest of the balls wont be disturbed. Also, the entire unit can be spun lightly on the turntable without upsetting the stack.


The company also sells a baseball display that holds 13 balls14 if the owner removes the plastic pyramid in the middle and uses a baseball to help support the other balls.


We havent figured out how to do the bowling ball one yet, Lineback says jokingly, though he says in seriousness that the company plans to develop other types of pyramid-shaped products, perhaps for single-ball displays.


Seeking acceptance


Pyramid Products salesabout 90 percent of which involve the golf-ball displayshave grown at a consistent, gradual pace since the company started, but it still is working to gain product acceptance in golf-merchandising circles, Jim Elmer says.


The company currently sells between 300 and 400 pyramids a month, but hopes to be selling up to 1,000 a month by this time next year, Elmer says.


I hope its going to be the next hula hoop, but I dont know if thats going to happen, he says.


Lineback says, however, the pyramids already have gained some news-media exposure in articles that appeared in The Seattle Times and in national trade publications such as Golfweek and Golf Product News.


Lineback says the company sells about 90 percent of its products to golf pro shops and other retailers. The web site through which it generates the rest of its sales is located at www.pyrprods.com.


So far, the company has sold its displays to retailers throughout the U.S. and has had isolated international sales in countries such as Canada, Germany, Malaysia, and Norway. Wholesale orders have ranged from 12 to 100 units, Lineback says.


The company is trying to increase sales to retailers that currently carry its products, and its targeting more mid-sized to large retailers, specifically in areas where golf typically is more popular, such as California, Arizona, and parts of the South, Lineback says.


Altek Inc., at Liberty Lake, molds the components for the plastic pyramids, and Sunrise Wood Products Inc., of Spokane, makes the wood parts for the wooden ones. Pyramid Products, which is located in a small office-and-warehouse space at 2914 E. Boone, handles its own packaging and shipping. The Elmers and Lineback are the companys only employees, but call on other family members to help when a big order needs to be prepared.


Off the wall


The pyramids are an alternative to wall racks that golf-ball collectors often use to display balls theyve collected.


I, and other wives, dont want them hanging on the walls, Sharon Elmer says.


Jim Elmer says he golfs whenever hes on vacation, and when golfing on a new, upscale course, hell buy a ball imprinted with that courses logo.


Elmer currently has about 100 golf balls in his personal collection, which he says is small compared with the collection of other avid golfers. His collection includes, among others, balls from Pinehurst Resort & Country Club, a North Carolina course that hosted the U.S. Open last year, and The Old Course-St. Andrews, a Scottish course thats considered the home of golf and that will host the British Open this year.


Golf balls from exclusive courses typically dont increase in value like some other collectibles, but Elmer owns balls autographed by professional golfer Tiger Woods and former Vice President Dan Quayle that he believes could have added value.


Elmer used to keep his golf-ball collection in a shoebox. Part of it now is displayed on his desk.


Before Scotts death, he and Elmer played golf together whenever they got a chance, Elmer says.


Elmer had moved to the Spokane area in 1980, and Scott was one of the first people he met here. Scott owned a company called Spokane Acoustics Inc. that installed acoustical tiles for ceilings and walls, and the two men became friends when that company worked as a subcontractor for Elmers construction company. Spokane Acoustics now is owned by Bill Gotfredson, of Spokane.