America's Largest Tackle Distributor Pitman Creek Breaks Ground on Kentucky Expansion

The largest distributor of fishing tackle in the United States has broken ground on a 112,500 sq ft expansion at its headquarters in Stanford, Kentucky — a capacity investment that will shape how Chinese-made tackle reaches thousands of independent American retailers.

Pitman Creek Wholesale, a family-owned business founded in 1978, says the project will expand operational capacity and enable it to offer a broader product selection to its independent retail customers. Completion is expected in summer 2027. Once finished, the additional space will take the company’s combined operational footprint — including its Kentucky headquarters and its distribution facility in Germantown, Wisconsin — to 357,500 sq ft.

The company carries more than 90,000 products from over 500 brands and supplies more than 4,000 independent fishing tackle retailers across the country, making it one of the most important gateways between manufacturers and the US specialty tackle trade.

Channel Confidence

“We never set out to be the biggest. We simply wanted to be the best every day by taking care of every customer,” said James Coffey, President of Pitman Creek Wholesale, who runs the business alongside his son Addison, the company’s Vice President. “This expansion is another investment in our customers. It gives us the capacity to grow alongside our dealers while maintaining the service they’ve come to expect from Pitman Creek.”

For Chinese rod, reel, lure and line manufacturers, the significance is indirect but real. Independent tackle shops are a core outlet for OEM and imported products, and a distributor of this scale expanding its warehouse and fulfilment capacity signals confidence in continued US demand for fishing tackle. It also points to stronger channel competition: as the largest US wholesaler gets bigger, smaller importers and distributors will need sharper sourcing advantages to hold shelf space.

The expansion follows a period in which US tackle demand has remained resilient despite tariff turbulence and shifting trade policy. For Chinese exporters, investments like this are a reminder that the American independent retail channel — still one of the world’s most valuable markets for fishing tackle — continues to prepare for growth.

Source: Pitman Creek Wholesale, as reported by industry sources.

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