Zim's Rack

My name is Michael Zimmerman, "Zim".  I was born in 1976 in Vandalia, Illinois.  I am currently living in O'Fallon, Illinois.

Two of my friends, Danny Deiters and Mark Schuchmann, introduced the game of billiards to me when I was 19 years old.  Since then I have studied the game immensly.  I have worked in a few pool halls, participated in numerous leagues nad many tournaments and played in various countries over the years.  Aside from being a player, I also organized and operated 8-ball and 9-ball tournaments, operated 8-ball leagues and coached some players over my travels in the United States Air Force.

I entered into the Internet World doing business as Zim's Rack in 2001.  My intentions were to carry production cues such as McDermott, Viking, Joss and Meucci, along with many other brand cues.  Besides having cues in my inventory, I also had cases and various billiard accessories in stock.  After a number of years on the Internet, I plan to open a billiards room.

In July of 2004 I attended the Billiard Sanctuary Academy of the Cueing Arts (BSACA) with Timothy J. White as my instructor.  I spent a week with Timothy to become a Certified Instructor with the BSACA. I also purchased a Mid-Size Cue Smith Lathe in June and offer cue repair and would eventually like to start making cues.

In March of 2005 Zimmerman Custom Cues (ZCC) was inducted into the International Cuemakers Association (ICA) and is recognized as a quality cue repairman. June 15, 2005 is the day I completed my obligation to the United States Air Force and another chapter in my life is in the works.  I attended Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (SIUE) to obtain my Bachelors in Businesss.  While attending SIUE I worked on building Zim's Rack into more of a promotional business, rather than just sales and becoming more wide spread around the billiard community.

August of 2005 the Gateway Amateur 9-Ball Tour was created in the St. Louis/Metro East area. I am the Tour Director and ZCC will be offering on the spot cue repair at all events.  Around the same time Zim's Rack 8-Ball League was formed and the first Division is located in Bond County, Illinois.

In June of 2007, Zim's Rack opened it's doors to the public with a 1,000 sq' pro-shop.  We built Zimmerman Custom Cues, offered custom cue repair, had a retail area for cues, cases, accessories and aparrel, had an 8' drop pocket pool table in a partially secluded room for billiard instruction and an in house 14.1 league and 8 ball league. Aside from being a pro-shop, it was also the headquarters for Zim's Rack 8-Ball League and the Zim's Rack Amateur Pool Tour. The shop was closed in mid-2008!

October 2007, the formation of Zim's Rack Amateur Pool Tours (APT) starts off with one tour, the GAT. The new format for all Zim's Rack APT's are 8-Ball instead of 9-Ball. Additional tours will be added in the future.

In February of 2008 Zimmerman Custom Cues was upgraded to a Cuemaker level in the International Cuemakers Association. Also this month, Zim's Rack closed it's retail doors due to military and family commitments. Zim's Rack 8-Ball League and Zim's Rack APT was not affected by this closing.  Zimmerman Custom Cues will finish building the cues on order at an alternate location and no additional cue orders will be taken until further notice.

Be sure to check out this site in the future for new additions, we are constantly adding something.  If anyone has any comments, questions, suggestions or concerns, please contact me directly.

Thank you and I'm looking forward to doing business with you in the future.