SHOT Show Anniversary: The Sellmark Story

SHOT Show is generally a time for new, new new: New guns, new ammo, new optics, new scopes. But for one company, it’s a birthday celebration; Sightmark celebrates its anniversary at SHOT Show, as that’s where it was born, at SHOT Show in 2007. But the company’s roots actually go back much further, as its parent company, Sellmark, is celebrating 25 years of business this year. Founder James Sellers says the company is successful today for the same reason they’ve managed to build what they’ve done so far: They sell products in a market they’re passionate about, while offering value to the customer.

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Early evolution

In the beginning, Sellmark wasn’t involved with the shooting world. Sellers grew up in northern Michigan, in love with the outdoors, hanging out at his local fish-and-tackle shop ogling the scopes that he couldn’t have; his dad wanted him to use iron sights. But when Sellmark started life it was the early 2000s and the tech world was where the money was—until it wasn’t. As the dot-com boom changed the economy, Sellers decided it was time to move on to other projects, doing what his company did best: identifying markets with potential, building strong branding, and selling products they believed in.

He realized there was potential in the outdoors world, and Sellmark’s initial foray here was distributing Russian-made outdoors gear. Then, in the run-up to 2007’s SHOT Show debut, Sellers and his company moved into optics, eventually founding Sightmark.

How did Sightmark succeed in the turbulent economic times of the late 2000s? As mortgage-backed bonds collapsed, people still kept buying Sightmark optics because Sellmark had noticed a market that seems obvious now, but was ignored back then.

“We looked around at what was available for the AR-15 platform and there really weren’t a lot,” Sellers says. Some defense contractors had high-priced tactical kit, but there wasn’t much else for people who wanted good, quality-built optics for their AR—at the same time that U.S. military veterans were returning home from their tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, familiar with black rifle platforms and wanting to build their own setup once they were in the civilian world.

“You had all these guys that wanted this stuff but there really wasn’t a lot of good options,” says Sellers. So Sightmark set out to grow this market, starting with a parallax-free red dot that held its zero even through rough usage—something the defense sector had figured out, but was hard to find at a civilian-friendly price point. When Sightmark released their AR-friendly optic, it was a huge seller, and the company pushed past that success to offer other accessories, such as laser sighting tools that helped shooters confirm their rifle’s zero without having to fire at a target.

Things took off quickly. Over 2009-2010, Sellmark started building the Pulsar line of night vision devices. Sellers said they figured this technology would be important someday; now, a decade-and-a-half later, he says they’re seeing the results, with Pulsar serving as an entry point into NV technology for many shooters.

Other brands came as they made sense. Knowing that younger shooters were looking for optics at a price point they could afford without as much interest in the add-ons that came baked into the Sightmark brand, Sellmark launched the Firefield line of scopes, with a focus on stripped-down features that beginners could afford.

Founded by a couple of SWAT officers, the Kopfjäger brand of shooting rests came into the Sellmark fold, where they once again grew a new brand. Sellers realized there was also a need for everyman affordability in the body armor world, and Sellmark acquired the BulletSafe brand in 2021, bringing out body protection such as bulletproof vests at a price point that was more accessible to consumers.  A year later, Sellmark picked up Rhode Island-based INFORCE, helping that company grow its made-in-America business of rifle, pistol and helmet lights to new markets and wide-spread accessibility. They’ve also started selling vehicle-mounted thermal cameras through the Dark30 brand in the last year, helping people such as hog hunters pierce through low-light conditions to keep their crops safe.

It’s a lot of growth for a company that started in Sellers’ garage. So what’s the secret behind the success? It comes down to a few factors. For one, Sellers says his companies have been willing to do things differently and give consumers options they didn’t have before.

But two other factors probably get even closer to the key. If you look at the individual websites for all the Sellmark, the “About Us” section always has two strong themes: The company wants to give its customers good value for their money, and they want to reinforce the ideals of fairness and freedom that once were stereotypical American ideals.

Sellers says these ideas were taught to him as family values growing up. Today, he knows his customers work hard for their income, and he’s still happy to treat customers fairly and give them their money’s worth. In a cynical era where high profit margins boosting shareholders’ bottom lines are the rule of the day in the corporate world, the Sellmark way stands out, and it’s easy to see why customers are attracted to such a mindset—one that’s almost lost, but still lives on in Sellmark’s home base in Mansfield, Texas.