As someone who works in a skater-owned shop, I feel like I learned a lot from this thread. Here's my two cents though:
-I know that a lot of people have shared about how they are socially awkward, and they don't want interaction, but I feel just as weird when customers don't say anything back. I know it's not a requirement or anything, but I thought it was just polite to reply to someone who is saying "hello".
-The shop I work in recently started carrying longboards a year or so ago, and while I don't like them, I'm ok with the money they bring in. I had to do homework about these things so that I can have an honest and decent conversation with customers. It's not my favorite, but whatever, they're going to buy them anyways; why not let them support the local shop?
-I noticed a lot of people are mentioning not carrying core brands in exchange for the bigger conglomerate ones (i.e. "it sucks to stock nike; only carry Emerica"). I can identify. I don't do the ordering in my store, as my boss is infinitely better at figuring out what kids want than I am, but I do understand how it works (at least, at it's most basic level). I wish our shop would carry more of the "core brands", but even they are adopting some of the same business strategies (like "pre-booking") as those evil conglomerates. At any rate, brands like Nike and Adidas are popular, so I think it's necessary to find a balance between core and corporate; you know, so the shop can keep the lights on. I think someone mentioned that it's rad to carry brands that the owner likes, and for the owner to have a reason for carrying those brands. That shit is cool.
-The last thing I wanted to mention was the "used goods" bin idea. I HATE the used goods bin. I am by no means a wealthy person; I am scraping by going to a community college and living on ramen noodles. But I see so many grown ass men come into the store and ask for used decks that I'm slowly losing my grip on reality. While the idea is awesome for little skate rats whose only income comes from hustling, it loses the shop tons of money. After our shop did away with it, I can't tell you how many times I've had a grown man ask for one, get rejected, then pony up the cash for a new board. I'll stash a few of mine away for the deserving little dudes, but I am so glad to see our used board bin leave.
Anyways, this is my first post, so please don't crucify me for my opinion. Or do it, whatever.