About Racket House

The story begins in 2000, when Ketshop opens on Søndergade in Odense. It starts as a local specialist store focused on racket sports, expertise and stringing. The shop quickly becomes a natural meeting point for players looking for personal advice, strong brands and help from people who know the sport from the inside.

As the shop grows, the first employees arrive, the range expands, and Ketshop.dk launches as a webshop. That lays the foundation for the combination of physical store and online trade that comes to characterise the whole company.

In 2003 Badmintonshoppen.dk launches. In the beginning it is run as a side project from a room in North Zealand, with a limited range of products and brands.

Small as the beginning is, the idea behind Badmintonshoppen is strong: a specialist webshop for badminton players, built around range, advice and a passion for the sport.

In 2010 Torben van den Brekel Kulmbak takes over Badmintonshoppen.dk. The webshop moves to Frederiksberg and is run at first from a third-floor flat.

Torben has played badminton since childhood and has a strong interest in both the sport and the development of e-commerce. That combination proves decisive for Badmintonshoppen’s next phase.

In 2012 Torben takes the plunge and goes full time with the webshop. The following year more space is needed, and the first real warehouse unit is rented. Badmintonshoppen is no longer a side project but a growing business.

Meanwhile Ketshop keeps growing in Odense. This is where Mikkel Normann enters the picture, first as a stringer and later as store manager. His experience from the shop floor and his close contact with customers later become an important part of the company’s development.

In 2016 Torben van den Brekel Kulmbak takes over Ketshop. Badmintonshoppen moves to Odense and the two businesses come together under one roof. It is a decisive turning point.

At the same time the partnership between Torben and Mikkel begins in earnest. The combination of webshop, store, racket sports expertise and solid operations becomes the foundation of the company that later develops into Racket House.

In 2017 Tennisshoppen.dk opens. With it the company gains a dedicated tennis universe, where Danish players can find rackets, shoes, bags, balls, clothing and accessories from the leading brands.

Tennisshoppen is built on the same principle as Badmintonshoppen: a large specialist range, fast delivery, sharp prices and advice from people who know the sport themselves.

The company is no longer strong only in badminton and racket sports generally: it begins in earnest to build separate specialist shops aimed at each individual sport.

2018 is a landmark year. Mikkel Normann becomes a partner in the company, which now holds Badmintonshoppen, Ketshop and Tennisshoppen. With Mikkel and Torben driving it, the business is lifted to the next level. Webshop operations grow, the stores develop, and the company takes larger premises to keep up with demand.

It is also in this period that the overall direction becomes clearer: the company is to be a specialist in racket sports, both online and in person, and customers should be able to tell that real sportspeople stand behind it.

In 2019 Europe’s first demo centre opens in Odense. Customers can try badminton rackets, tennis equipment and padel rackets before they buy.

The demo centre becomes a symbol of the company’s approach: advice should not be theory alone. Customers should be able to handle, try and compare equipment, so they can find what suits their level and style of play.

The same year the international chapter begins in earnest, as Badmintonshoppen.se launches in Sweden. It is the first step towards a broader European presence.

In 2020 Padelshoppen launches, just as padel begins to grow rapidly in Denmark. With experience from badminton, tennis and squash, adding a dedicated padel universe is a natural step.

Padelshoppen focuses on the leading padel brands, strong advice, equipment testing and a large range for beginners, recreational players and tournament players alike.

The same year the company changes its name from Badmintonshoppen ApS to ZERV ApS. The change comes because the company now spans several sports and several webshops, and needs a name that can bring Badmintonshoppen, Tennisshoppen, Padelshoppen and Ketshop together under one company. ZERV is also the company’s own brand, which makes the name a natural rallying point for the next phase of the journey.

In January 2021 Torben and Mikkel appear on Løvens Hule, the Danish version of Dragons’ Den. ZERV secures an investment and gains strong new people on the team.

The appearance becomes an important moment in the company’s history, not only for the investment but because it brings far more attention to ZERV, to its ambitions, and to the journey towards becoming a bigger player in racket sports in Denmark and Europe.

In 2022 the company invests in new designs for its websites and a new backend structure. The aim is to make the experience faster, easier to use and clearer across the many webshops.

In 2023 warehouse and webshop operations once again outgrow the existing premises, and the company moves to larger ones in Tietgenbyen in Odense. At roughly 1,600 square metres there is room for more stock, more efficient packing and the continued development of the many webshops.

In 2024 the company opens a store in Frederiksberg following the purchase of KetcherXperten’s shop in Copenhagen. Customers gain another physical store where they can get personal advice, handle the products and get help from specialists.

At the same time the range expands with pickleball and table tennis – a natural development for a company already working across racket sports with rackets, balls, shoes, bags, clothing and accessories.

With stores in Odense and Frederiksberg the physical presence grows stronger still. The online side expands too, with two new badminton shops opening in the Netherlands and France, marking an expansion into two new countries.

In 2025 the company takes over KB Pro Shop. Tennisshoppen Pro Shop becomes its new name and it joins the wider tennis family around Tennisshoppen.

Where the physical stores in Odense and Frederiksberg cover racket sports broadly, Tennisshoppen Pro Shop carries a more selective range with a particular focus on tennis equipment.

The acquisition strengthens the company’s position in tennis and makes it possible to serve tennis players even more closely, online, in the stores and through the Pro Shop. The European expansion continues as well, with two padel shops opening in Germany and France.

From ZERV to Racket House ApS

In 2026 ZERV ApS is renamed Racket House ApS. The name marks a new phase and gathers the company’s many activities under one identity that says plainly who we are: a house for racket sports.

At the same time Ketshop.dk changes both name and role. Where it previously worked as a webshop selling products across sports, the site now becomes rackethouse.life.

The Ketshop name lives on in our history, while the physical stores become part of the Racket House identity. The specialist webshops continue with their clear focus on badminton, tennis and padel.

18 websites in 6 countries

Today Racket House ApS is behind 18 websites across 6 countries, plus an English-language badminton site. We run specialist shops for badminton, tennis and padel, and have physical stores in Odense and Frederiksberg.

Welcome to Racket House – our shared home for padel, badminton, tennis and racket sports.