Seattle's latest online retailing effort doesn't have a sophisticated name like Nordstrom or sleek moniker like Blue Nile. It's LardButt.com. Yep, you read that right. Lard Butt is launching an online retail store today designed for weekend warriors and "below-average athletes."  The startup's tagline: "Get Cracking." 

Founded by Seattle high-tech PR guru Mark Peterson and some of his buddies (or should we say Butt-ies) from Montana and Oregon, Lard Butt currently sells T-shirts and sweatshirts. It plans to add other sports merchandise later this year.

Peterson, who left Marchex last year to run his own PR firm, is serious about the new venture even though he's having some fun with the concept.

"It has been a labor of love," said Peterson, adding that Lard Butt is designed for people who love sports but "don't take themselves too seriously."

So far the founders -- many of whom have known one another since grade school in Montana -- have sunk about $50,000 into the venture. They refined the idea in 2005 at what is now known as the "Lard Butt Summit," working in Peterson's living room on the market opportunity, product mix and other elements.

The inspiration for the idea came from various sporting activities that the founders had participated in as well as an "overall disgust with overpaid athletes, steroids, and so forth," Peterson said.