Anyone else have a wack local skateshop?

[Coldpizza]

A lot of y’all didn’t grow up rural and it shows.

[Shalom Peterson]

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It bums me out because I used to live in Miami and MIA used to be poppin’ all the time. They were always having random signings, pro meet ups, and other random fun stuff every other week it seemed like.

[close]

MIA was tight. A couple of homies rode for them and one of them worked there. Plus I was always down to support Ed Selego. I still have a clip of kids mobbing around Prod in front of the shop yelling "do a sw tre!" And he grabbed some kids janky ass 7.5 and he did one perfectly. Now I  order my stuff from SPOT.

Was that from the primitive signing? I went to that but I was super late...

Same. SPoT is amazing. It’s always next day shipping for me. Plus I’ve met so many of my favorites at Tampa pro and am throughout the years. I feel like I should only be buying from SPoT. I couldn’t imagine living in Tampa having SPoT and the Boardr as my locals. I would be dead broke.

[Telly]

Yea I hear you dude, The skate culture today just sucks period. The people running it are just children that never grew up very cool guy like. Most shops I have bein too in my area either cater to what THEY think is relevant and sells or what THEY want to sell or what THEY like. We used to have a shop run by this old head it was a snowboard shop he was cool and took all our feedback for years we had a good group of dudes with very humbled egos that would even hook you up if you were getting into it. But the skate scene after Zumiez came in to my town crumbled at the same time. So they just went back too selling snowboards.

Which means they are definitely closed now.

[Slim_Moochie]

My local has gone down the shitter big time. Literally the only boards they carry are pizza, polar and santa cruz. Clothing wise it’s dickies, huf and more santa cruz...

[WeirdBeach]

My local has gone down the shitter big time. Literally the only boards they carry are pizza, polar and santa cruz. Clothing wise it’s dickies, huf and more santa cruz...

polar and dickies sounds fine.

[WeirdBeach]

A lot of y’all didn’t grow up rural and it shows.

explain

[shitsandwich]

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My local is more of a surf shop with a skate corner, owned/ran by surfers. They're nice and all but it's a coin-toss on whether someone who actually skates will be the person gripping your board or giving recommendations. I'd say... 90% of the time, a highschool girl who has never stepped foot on a skateboard is the one grabbing hard goods and trying to give recommendations.

Two years ago, after being fed up with trying to explain what I'm trying to get, I just started ordering/paying over the phone and picking it up in person. I'm OK with this but really miss having that local skate shop experience.

Story time. The moral: ALWAYS BUY LOCAL AND NEVER RIDE A WARPED BOARD:

Over a decade ago, I was broke and needed a board. Someone at my park mentioned Pac Sun had cheap boards. I drive over there, see a Kenny Anderson on the wall and go for it. 7.75, $30, on clearance because "they're sending more and we're getting rid of last season". Even when this sounded weird to me, I thought, "Makes sense, cheap board, cool". They grip it, I go to skate.

What I failed to notice is how warped this board was, width wise, from tail to nose. The first thing I tried to do with it was ollie onto a ledge and the fucking thing almost did a full-rotation kickflip. Landed primo and almost broke my arm. I thought, "Oh, you're just having an off day and the board is too grippy".

Although I generally sucked at transitions, the way Tom Penny skated had a huge impact on me so I learned early-on how to nollie half-cab on tranny. This being a go-to trick for me, I attempt one on a 5' quarterpipe. As soon as I popped, my board began to nollie-heel and I panicked. I quickly stopped sliding my foot and, stupidly, just tried to get the board back under my feet. In doing this, my front foot stayed on the board but my back foot went behind it. I landed like this, did the splits and all of my weight made my knee pop sideways, which tore my ACL.

That injury has plagued me for life. Had I just saved for a couple of days and bought a new board from my local, that could have changed the course of history for me.

[close]

You let other people grip your board?

Ive skated for 15 years and only gripped a board like once I think, am I a kook? What’s the etiquette on this?

[blurst_of_times]

When I was growing up, there was a skate shop attached to a tattoo place called A-1 Boardshop. The tattoo artists ran the counter in between their customers, and knew fuck all about skating. My friend bought Forecast from them, and I think I bought some Lucky Bearings once. The tattoo guys didnt give a shit about skating. I don't think they lasted a year.

Nowadays, I go Familia if I need something, and I stop by Damage in Duluth whenever I'm up north. As is already known, Steve and Dennis at Familia are great and Tabari Cook was running the desk the one time I went to Familia HQ, and he was cool. Damage has a good staff, too, and large selection of good brands. They carry a lot of DVDs, too, which I like.

[tom]

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i live near a great shop in the midwest but the owner doesnt even skate anymore and he plays favorites like a school teacher.  gives people a hard time if they want to buy grip for a board NOT bought at his shop.  called me a "piece of shit" for selling 30 boards out of my truck with dope artwork on them from a friend.

like thanks for running this dope shop but can you not be a total fuck wit?

[close]

I understand your frustration, but honestly, I'd be pretty bummed if someone came into my shop for grip for a board they didn't buy from me. Feels like a slap in the face. Also, did your friend try contacting said shop to see if they would be down to sell those boards? That could have helped both parties instead of pulling more business away from them if they're trying to help develop the skate scene in your area.
Not trying to play holier than thou or anything like that. Just trying to give an outsider's perspective on the situation.

[close]

This.
I mean goddamn 30 boards isn’t nothing.
The artwork may have been ‘dope’, but if the boards were just some hella cheap eBay blanks with doodles, sold for the super low....
Skate shops aren’t subsidized, not saying they should be, but margins are fuck all, and so many people these days acting like they are doing shops a favor when they come in and beg for cheap shit/hookup and then showroom some shoes.
When you are a child you are under your families (ideally) economic support, and there is only so much control of the situation you may have. Even then, at a certain point, don’t be so fucking poor that you cannot contribute. I’ve always hated hated hated this about some of the skaters I’ve been around: all of their money goes to the cans/weeds/whatever treat they want to shove into their mouths, the same mouth that begs/snarls for free shit.

[close]

This is a great segue into something I was wondering while browsing through the recent replies to this thread: while there are definitely wack as fuck shops out there, I'd love to hear how some of you guys complaining about shops actually act while you're in the shop, what you expect of the shop, what you purchase from the shop, etc.

[close]

Great point to bring up. I'd also like to add that if you're that hard pressed to buy product; instead of buying from places like CCS and Skatewarehouse, you can go through Parade World's website and still support a skater owned shop.

[close]

I’ve been cool guyed before. Vibed. Whatever. And some of that was ok.
I truly don’t know how some skate shop employees do not lose their fucking minds and just start slapping people. Skateboarding has to have a higher amount of folks presenting mental illness, compared to other activities. All of the particular nonsense!?? ‘Oh this wb 1/16 less than what I like....you don’t have this with a purple top ply? Oh you do? Oh but I need a little bit of a hook you got me?’ Jeeeeesuuus. And these employees are supposed to be nice as fuck, give up their spot info, just make conversation about nonsense, whilst getting paid little? And fuck! Can you imagine being a shop owner? Everyone inside of the shop is trying to steal from you. I like shops too much, I grew up in places with few, and those available were often very compromised by the nature of the business. So seeing cool, nice people selling/supporting this oddball activity is rare. Not everyone needs to be into it. I’m over the top in an annoying way.
But I’m still laughing about Mr. 30 boards out the trunk. Ha. Fucking amazing. If you were a competitor in any small market, you could expect to get some blowback, bristling, static, what have you. Imagine if you were a pizzeria, selling good quality decent pizza, and someone posted up outside and sold 4 days worth of frozen pizzas, with handpicked herbs to sprinkle on top.

[Untilthewheelsfalloff]

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My local is more of a surf shop with a skate corner, owned/ran by surfers. They're nice and all but it's a coin-toss on whether someone who actually skates will be the person gripping your board or giving recommendations. I'd say... 90% of the time, a highschool girl who has never stepped foot on a skateboard is the one grabbing hard goods and trying to give recommendations.

Two years ago, after being fed up with trying to explain what I'm trying to get, I just started ordering/paying over the phone and picking it up in person. I'm OK with this but really miss having that local skate shop experience.

Story time. The moral: ALWAYS BUY LOCAL AND NEVER RIDE A WARPED BOARD:

Over a decade ago, I was broke and needed a board. Someone at my park mentioned Pac Sun had cheap boards. I drive over there, see a Kenny Anderson on the wall and go for it. 7.75, $30, on clearance because "they're sending more and we're getting rid of last season". Even when this sounded weird to me, I thought, "Makes sense, cheap board, cool". They grip it, I go to skate.

What I failed to notice is how warped this board was, width wise, from tail to nose. The first thing I tried to do with it was ollie onto a ledge and the fucking thing almost did a full-rotation kickflip. Landed primo and almost broke my arm. I thought, "Oh, you're just having an off day and the board is too grippy".

Although I generally sucked at transitions, the way Tom Penny skated had a huge impact on me so I learned early-on how to nollie half-cab on tranny. This being a go-to trick for me, I attempt one on a 5' quarterpipe. As soon as I popped, my board began to nollie-heel and I panicked. I quickly stopped sliding my foot and, stupidly, just tried to get the board back under my feet. In doing this, my front foot stayed on the board but my back foot went behind it. I landed like this, did the splits and all of my weight made my knee pop sideways, which tore my ACL.

That injury has plagued me for life. Had I just saved for a couple of days and bought a new board from my local, that could have changed the course of history for me.

[close]

You let other people grip your board?

[close]

Ive skated for 15 years and only gripped a board like once I think, am I a kook? What’s the etiquette on this?

It just seems mad weird to me, I couldn't picture skating a board I didn't grip myself. Where I grew up I would have definitely gotten shit from the older cats if I asked the guy working behind the counter to grip my board. To each their own, I guess.

[shitsandwich]

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My local is more of a surf shop with a skate corner, owned/ran by surfers. They're nice and all but it's a coin-toss on whether someone who actually skates will be the person gripping your board or giving recommendations. I'd say... 90% of the time, a highschool girl who has never stepped foot on a skateboard is the one grabbing hard goods and trying to give recommendations.

Two years ago, after being fed up with trying to explain what I'm trying to get, I just started ordering/paying over the phone and picking it up in person. I'm OK with this but really miss having that local skate shop experience.

Story time. The moral: ALWAYS BUY LOCAL AND NEVER RIDE A WARPED BOARD:

Over a decade ago, I was broke and needed a board. Someone at my park mentioned Pac Sun had cheap boards. I drive over there, see a Kenny Anderson on the wall and go for it. 7.75, $30, on clearance because "they're sending more and we're getting rid of last season". Even when this sounded weird to me, I thought, "Makes sense, cheap board, cool". They grip it, I go to skate.

What I failed to notice is how warped this board was, width wise, from tail to nose. The first thing I tried to do with it was ollie onto a ledge and the fucking thing almost did a full-rotation kickflip. Landed primo and almost broke my arm. I thought, "Oh, you're just having an off day and the board is too grippy".

Although I generally sucked at transitions, the way Tom Penny skated had a huge impact on me so I learned early-on how to nollie half-cab on tranny. This being a go-to trick for me, I attempt one on a 5' quarterpipe. As soon as I popped, my board began to nollie-heel and I panicked. I quickly stopped sliding my foot and, stupidly, just tried to get the board back under my feet. In doing this, my front foot stayed on the board but my back foot went behind it. I landed like this, did the splits and all of my weight made my knee pop sideways, which tore my ACL.

That injury has plagued me for life. Had I just saved for a couple of days and bought a new board from my local, that could have changed the course of history for me.

[close]

You let other people grip your board?

[close]

Ive skated for 15 years and only gripped a board like once I think, am I a kook? What’s the etiquette on this?

[close]

It just seems mad weird to me, I couldn't picture skating a board I didn't grip myself. Where I grew up I would have definitely gotten shit from the older cats if I asked the guy working behind the counter to grip my board. To each their own, I guess.

I remember reading something by Chris neiratko saying something like if you’re over 16 they wont grip board at his shop. I felt like he was mostly joking but im sure some people feel this way. 

[pica]

If you go into a skateshop expecting a new batch of best friends and a slew of awesome conversation based solely on the fact that you skate then don't be surprised when people treat you funny. Moving to a new place I'd just buy my shit and do minimal small talk. Eventually you'll meet people if you're out skating alot and buying product in person. People just want in right off the bat and that's not how anything works.

I worked at a shop for 6 years, people trying to hard to hang out where always the worst. Like people coming in and fist bumping me, yet i‘ve never seen them before.

This one time a dude neither me or my co worker have ever seen was hanging out at the counter for something like two hours, when his phone rings and i think „finally...“ obviously it was his girl... „nah babe i‘m not coming home now, i‘m chilling at the shop with my homies“.

[pica]

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My local is more of a surf shop with a skate corner, owned/ran by surfers. They're nice and all but it's a coin-toss on whether someone who actually skates will be the person gripping your board or giving recommendations. I'd say... 90% of the time, a highschool girl who has never stepped foot on a skateboard is the one grabbing hard goods and trying to give recommendations.

Two years ago, after being fed up with trying to explain what I'm trying to get, I just started ordering/paying over the phone and picking it up in person. I'm OK with this but really miss having that local skate shop experience.

Story time. The moral: ALWAYS BUY LOCAL AND NEVER RIDE A WARPED BOARD:

Over a decade ago, I was broke and needed a board. Someone at my park mentioned Pac Sun had cheap boards. I drive over there, see a Kenny Anderson on the wall and go for it. 7.75, $30, on clearance because "they're sending more and we're getting rid of last season". Even when this sounded weird to me, I thought, "Makes sense, cheap board, cool". They grip it, I go to skate.

What I failed to notice is how warped this board was, width wise, from tail to nose. The first thing I tried to do with it was ollie onto a ledge and the fucking thing almost did a full-rotation kickflip. Landed primo and almost broke my arm. I thought, "Oh, you're just having an off day and the board is too grippy".

Although I generally sucked at transitions, the way Tom Penny skated had a huge impact on me so I learned early-on how to nollie half-cab on tranny. This being a go-to trick for me, I attempt one on a 5' quarterpipe. As soon as I popped, my board began to nollie-heel and I panicked. I quickly stopped sliding my foot and, stupidly, just tried to get the board back under my feet. In doing this, my front foot stayed on the board but my back foot went behind it. I landed like this, did the splits and all of my weight made my knee pop sideways, which tore my ACL.

That injury has plagued me for life. Had I just saved for a couple of days and bought a new board from my local, that could have changed the course of history for me.

[close]

You let other people grip your board?

[close]

Ive skated for 15 years and only gripped a board like once I think, am I a kook? What’s the etiquette on this?

[close]

It just seems mad weird to me, I couldn't picture skating a board I didn't grip myself. Where I grew up I would have definitely gotten shit from the older cats if I asked the guy working behind the counter to grip my board. To each their own, I guess.

[close]

I remember reading something by Chris neiratko saying something like if you’re over 16 they wont grip board at his shop. I felt like he was mostly joking but im sure some people feel this way.

„Letting other people grip your board is like getting a dude with a bigger dick to bang your chick“

-chris nieratko (maybe)

[pica]

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My local is more of a surf shop with a skate corner, owned/ran by surfers. They're nice and all but it's a coin-toss on whether someone who actually skates will be the person gripping your board or giving recommendations. I'd say... 90% of the time, a highschool girl who has never stepped foot on a skateboard is the one grabbing hard goods and trying to give recommendations.

Two years ago, after being fed up with trying to explain what I'm trying to get, I just started ordering/paying over the phone and picking it up in person. I'm OK with this but really miss having that local skate shop experience.

Story time. The moral: ALWAYS BUY LOCAL AND NEVER RIDE A WARPED BOARD:

Over a decade ago, I was broke and needed a board. Someone at my park mentioned Pac Sun had cheap boards. I drive over there, see a Kenny Anderson on the wall and go for it. 7.75, $30, on clearance because "they're sending more and we're getting rid of last season". Even when this sounded weird to me, I thought, "Makes sense, cheap board, cool". They grip it, I go to skate.

What I failed to notice is how warped this board was, width wise, from tail to nose. The first thing I tried to do with it was ollie onto a ledge and the fucking thing almost did a full-rotation kickflip. Landed primo and almost broke my arm. I thought, "Oh, you're just having an off day and the board is too grippy".

Although I generally sucked at transitions, the way Tom Penny skated had a huge impact on me so I learned early-on how to nollie half-cab on tranny. This being a go-to trick for me, I attempt one on a 5' quarterpipe. As soon as I popped, my board began to nollie-heel and I panicked. I quickly stopped sliding my foot and, stupidly, just tried to get the board back under my feet. In doing this, my front foot stayed on the board but my back foot went behind it. I landed like this, did the splits and all of my weight made my knee pop sideways, which tore my ACL.

That injury has plagued me for life. Had I just saved for a couple of days and bought a new board from my local, that could have changed the course of history for me.

[close]

You let other people grip your board?

[close]

Ive skated for 15 years and only gripped a board like once I think, am I a kook? What’s the etiquette on this?

[close]

It just seems mad weird to me, I couldn't picture skating a board I didn't grip myself. Where I grew up I would have definitely gotten shit from the older cats if I asked the guy working behind the counter to grip my board. To each their own, I guess.

[close]

I remember reading something by Chris neiratko saying something like if you’re over 16 they wont grip board at his shop. I felt like he was mostly joking but im sure some people feel this way.

[close]

„Having other people grip your board is like getting a dude with a bigger dick to bang your chick“

-chris nieratko (maybe)

[Krile]

I got mixed feelings on the shop I consider to be my local. They used to be closer but moved to the city. I don't go out of my way to buy from them cuz I feel they abandoned my area. They are still the sickest shop in Ontario though.

[munchbox]

I got mixed feelings on the shop I consider to be my local. They used to be closer but moved to the city. I don't go out of my way to buy from them cuz I feel they abandoned my area. They are still the sickest shop in Ontario though.

cheetahsheets confirmed

[Krile]

I'm not cheetah our posting styles are totally different.

He writes super long incomprehensible posts about nonsense where my posts are poignant and direct.

[Krile]

I personally subscribe to the Cheetah is Marc Johnson theory

[heckler]

Just to recap, some of the reasons y’all think your local shops are wack include:

• they’re bummed your homie sold $1,650 worth of product from the trunk of his car, as is his right;
• they won’t give out discounts that you’re clearly entitled to;
• they don’t have enough space for people to hang out, so you have to sit outside with everyone else instead of taking up room where employees are trying to work;
• they don’t want to grip your board because you’re a 30+ year old man and you should absolutely know how to grip your own board at this point;
• they don’t want to be your best friend.

Sounds great. Keep the complaints coming.

[anal drill]

Skateshops selling skatebrands really sucks...should only carry nike, adidas, converse, and some CBD oil

[Shifty Flip]

Eh I like Labor. Sure you can't really chill there, but that's because it's insanely small. There also used to be this real bummer of a man that worked there, he sometimes pops up in those Transworld "New York Times" videos. Dude was such an asshole and it really comes off in any video you see of him. But he's gone as far as I can tell and everyone that works there currently is cool. I moved away just as I was getting to know people there and honestly kind of miss it. My current shop in the DC area sells like one shoe and 2 boards I have no idea how they stay in business.

Brent's shop?

Edit* Better not be. 

[Shifty Flip]

My local has gone down the shitter big time. Literally the only boards they carry are pizza, polar and santa cruz. Clothing wise it’s dickies, huf and more santa cruz...

You live in Whittier?

[JANUS]

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I got mixed feelings on the shop I consider to be my local. They used to be closer but moved to the city. I don't go out of my way to buy from them cuz I feel they abandoned my area. They are still the sickest shop in Ontario though.

[close]

cheetahsheets confirmed

I thought he was Judo Origami, or Bata, or Mog. Maybe all three.

[animalflesh]

Best skateshop in New York is NJ skateshop in Jersey City lol

[Roast beef]

My local used to sell snowboards, skate boards, surfboards and all sorts of trucks, wheels and bearings but stopped selling all of it  about ten years ago, now only sells clothes and shoes, it was probably pointless selling the surf/snowboard stuff because there is literally no surf/snowboard scene around here (northern England) but it was annoying when he stopped selling the skate stuff because the nearest skate shop is 100 miles away, he had a good selection of blueprint, chocolate, venture, royal and teenage runaway, he said his main reason for stopping selling skate hardware is because he was sick of 14 year olds coming into the shop and having hour long discussions about bearings etc now all he has shoe wise is lakai,etnies,es,Emerica and Adidas, clothingwise all he has is volcom, carhart, Levi denom and his own stuff which he had to stop making because he ripped of the Patagonia logo and got found out. Oh but he randomly has a dvd of pretty sweet which has been sitting on a shelf collecting dust for years. The owners a cool guy though.

[Krile]

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I got mixed feelings on the shop I consider to be my local. They used to be closer but moved to the city. I don't go out of my way to buy from them cuz I feel they abandoned my area. They are still the sickest shop in Ontario though.

[close]

cheetahsheets confirmed

[close]

I thought he was Judo Origami, or Bata, or Mog. Maybe all three.

and several others. the whole riddle thread is me except for spiral avatar guy

[Krile]

Yoda isn't me though, I was gonna get drunk last night and make Fake Yoda but I didnt

[itsyourdad]

infinity in st. louis is garbage and run by the most arrogant dipshit i’ve ever met in my life. great inventory and nice location, just run by an absolute kook.

[90sDamiano]

Just to recap, some of the reasons y’all think your local shops are wack include:

• they’re bummed your homie sold $1,650 worth of product from the trunk of his car, as is his right;
• they won’t give out discounts that you’re clearly entitled to;
• they don’t have enough space for people to hang out, so you have to sit outside with everyone else instead of taking up room where employees are trying to work;
• they don’t want to grip your board because you’re a 30+ year old man and you should absolutely know how to grip your own board at this point;
• they don’t want to be your best friend.

Sounds great. Keep the complaints coming.

Disgruntled skateshop employees are worst than the kid who just learned Krooked grinds and lies about being sponsored

[buttchin]

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My local (510) is super core, but huge vibes. I can't support them cuz of how big of obviously condescending dicks the staff  are.

[close]

glad i'm not the only one who feels this way.

I love 510, but I have gotten weird vibes a few years ago checking out the shop after skating Berkeley campus. I did have some small streaks of blonde hair dye in my hair from previously bleaching my head a few weeks earlier, so I kinda deserved it I guess