Slap MessageBoards
Skateboarding => USELESS WOODEN TOY BANTER => Topic started by: ToySanta on March 01, 2024, 03:52:57 PM
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https://blog.slamcity.com/industry-jeff-henderson/?fbclid=PAAaa71BI9lrG7l7adRnjMchWCWPL8wr1aXsiVKTc4fou1gpqPRp9K8hw0YnY_aem_ATufNTn0-WBAOuCHCJoNTUTbuIUH4KypUvgz2qt_2DMj4t_mbuN7LWCQfdbcHv-jJGI
I know, I know, another Emerica thread. Saw this pop up in a couple places, but I’d rather it have a little more containment.
Plenty of shade thrown, deflection, and repeated “I’m not responsible for the next two years of product!!”
I’m not terribly invested in the future of the brand, myself, but I don’t know if bringing back this guy is the answer. Especially since he is fairly responsible for the look and sterility of Emerica, and its overall lack of diversity. Time will obviously tell…
We got this though:
Yeah, Phelps always wore the MJ. We had 12 pairs of them made for Jake specifically, with his logo. He ran those for a long time.
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Plz Mr Henderson, save Emerica. Skatebording needs you.
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He talks about making the brand more global in the interview but they just dropped Rob Pace…one of their only non-american riders.
I want Spanky to dip and get on NB.
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He talks about making the brand more global in the interview but they just dropped Rob Pace…one of their only non-american riders.
I want Spanky to dip and get on NB.
WTF they announce him with 2 minutes of footage 4 months ago and then fire him? When has half of that Emerica team gotten their last 2 minutes of footage? This is a trainwreck.
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Yeah. It's good to have someone in there with a vision and it's good to have Spanky and Leo have more of a voice with the brand, but I guess we just have to see what happens...
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If nothing else, I am happy to have something to talk about.
And yah can’t ever say they aren’t reading ;D
(https://i.ibb.co/XJs1Hkq/IMG-4699.jpg) (https://ibb.co/XJs1Hkq)
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shut the fuck up about soletech dweebs
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I read this this morning on my way into work.
It’ll be interesting the next 12 months to see how they plan on making Emerica appeal to all skaters.
I think they’ve got no chance of shaking the pot smoking, tie dye image that was prevalent in the 2010s. Unless they do something huge and get someone on the team from well outside the Oceanside/Silverlake vibe.
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If they wanna be a brand for all skaters then make more cupsoles
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If they wanna be a brand for all skaters then make more cupsoles
It sure seems that what he’s getting at in the article. He said he knows Emerica can make a good b/w Vulc shoe but with the brand and history, we can also make other good shoes as well.
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If they wanna be a brand for all skaters then make more cupsoles
we’ll they are currently phasing out their most popular cupsole so I’m skeptical at best…
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I mean he has a point with product design being 18 months out, and the economy is pretty shit. But this marketing and video is not a huge departure from what we've seen before, no? What is the brand really going to be if they decide to "diversify"? Wondering what SlapTM thinks about this.
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I mean he has a point with product design being 18 months out, and the economy is pretty shit. But this marketing and video is not a huge departure from what we've seen before, no? What is the brand really going to be if they decide to "diversify"? Wondering what SlapTM thinks about this.
I’ve always had nothing but respect for Jet. On the personal side, Jeff was sending me shoes and mini dv tapes during the filming of Stay Gold and at 21, it was absolutely the coolest thing ever and something I won’t forget. Sure, it’s a bummer seeing the most recent additions getting let go but as Jeff mentioned, the industry is hurting right now. Plus, I know the riders are stoked to have him back and I just hope the riders and crew can continue fighting the good fight. Hoping nothing but the best for all involved.
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It seemed weird that the Dakota part didn’t do more (or much) to express it was for his pro shoe
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He talks about making the brand more global in the interview but they just dropped Rob Pace…one of their only non-american riders.
I want Spanky to dip and get on NB.
Any where why they dropped him? He fits the image of Emerica pretty well and is far from his prime. I can’t wait to see what homie puts out in the future
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Q. Your brand is failing due to an outdated image and failure to tap into the current market. What should you do?
a. Do the responsible thing to preserve your integrity and shutter the brand
b. Give the competent figures already working for you greater voice as to brand direction and major strategies
c. Reinvigorate your brand by hiring fresh talent in crucial positions
d. Rehire an older figure from the 'glory days' of your brand whose who hasn't worked in skating for a number of years and whose past vision is that exact one which is out of touch with todays market; the reliance upon which is causing the downfall of your brand
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He talks about making the brand more global in the interview but they just dropped Rob Pace…one of their only non-american riders.
I want Spanky to dip and get on NB.
Any where why they dropped him? He fits the image of Emerica pretty well and is far from his prime. I can’t wait to see what homie puts out in the future
Feels more like he was poached in-family by Etnies
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He talks about making the brand more global in the interview but they just dropped Rob Pace…one of their only non-american riders.
I want Spanky to dip and get on NB.
Any where why they dropped him? He fits the image of Emerica pretty well and is far from his prime. I can’t wait to see what homie puts out in the future
Feels more like he was poached in-family by Etnies
Well he made this post saying “due to unfortunate circumstances that he no longer rides for them”. There’s probably some beef in there
https://www.instagram.com/p/C30rvOISZja/?igsh=MXVscHJ5cWVqZ3o1bw==
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First pair of skate shoes I ever purchased from a skate shop were the blue Emerica Marc Johnson's way back in the late 90s.
Honestly can't remember if I've owned a pair of Emerica's since then.
Edit: Did purchase a pair of Reynolds at some point
If they marketed a shoe model towards "People who've been skating for decades and get hurt just by walking too much, these shoes are for you", I'd probably give them a go.
Looks like Sole Tech brands have a bit of in store inventory climbing to do. This is based off shoe inventory value from a bunch of shops (https://www.slapmagazine.com/index.php?topic=127112.0).
(https://i.imgur.com/BSSJCa1.png)
edit: see updated chart with adidas added a few posts down
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Q. Your brand is failing due to an outdated image and failure to tap into the current market. What should you do?
a. Do the responsible thing to preserve your integrity and shutter the brand
b. Give the competent figures already working for you greater voice as to brand direction and major strategies
c. Reinvigorate your brand by hiring fresh talent in crucial positions
d. Rehire an older figure from the 'glory days' of your brand whose who hasn't worked in skating for a number of years and whose past vision is that exact one which is out of touch with todays market; the reliance upon which is causing the downfall of your brand
The first shoe that their new designer worked on was the Servold, a shoe which was worked on by multiple people. Give it time.
I’m also just as critical as all y'all about everything (axing the G6 foam, etc), but you do realize that B & D can be construed as pretty much the same thing, right?
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"But our goal is to make the line diverse enough that it’ll appeal to any type of skateboarder".
Lofty goals.
I hope they strike more of a middle ground, somewhere between their current pigeon-hole and yet another direction-less, "we make one of everything", shoe brands.
They honestly should focus on old-man shoes, because I agree with other posters that them shits hurt me feet.
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First pair of skate shoes I ever purchased from a skate shop were the blue Emerica Marc Johnson's way back in the late 90s. Honestly can't remember if I've owned a pair of Emerica's since then.
Edit: Did purchase a pair of Reynolds at some point
If they marketed a shoe model towards "People who've been skating for decades and get hurt just by walking too much, these shoes are for you", I'd probably give them a go.
Looks like Sole Tech brands have a bit of in store inventory climbing to do. This is based off shoe inventory value from a bunch of shops (https://www.slapmagazine.com/index.php?topic=127112.0).
(https://i.imgur.com/BSSJCa1.png)
Well i'll be
Is NB# really taking the most wall space?
Kinda sick to be honest
Sucks for skater owned
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First pair of skate shoes I ever purchased from a skate shop were the blue Emerica Marc Johnson's way back in the late 90s. Honestly can't remember if I've owned a pair of Emerica's since then.
Edit: Did purchase a pair of Reynolds at some point
If they marketed a shoe model towards "People who've been skating for decades and get hurt just by walking too much, these shoes are for you", I'd probably give them a go.
Looks like Sole Tech brands have a bit of in store inventory climbing to do. This is based off shoe inventory value from a bunch of shops (https://www.slapmagazine.com/index.php?topic=127112.0).
(https://i.imgur.com/BSSJCa1.png)
Well i'll be
Is NB# really taking the most wall space?
Kinda sick to be honest
Sucks for skater owned
I guess with Adidas in the chart the numbers will change little bit, but it's a really cool way to picture the market.
That been said my problem with emerica is the value of their shoes, I had them in the cart so many times but at the end I always find something more appealing from another brand.
Also the shipping in their website doesn't help much, they lowered the free shipping to 75 but before that it was like 120...
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First pair of skate shoes I ever purchased from a skate shop were the blue Emerica Marc Johnson's way back in the late 90s. Honestly can't remember if I've owned a pair of Emerica's since then.
Edit: Did purchase a pair of Reynolds at some point
If they marketed a shoe model towards "People who've been skating for decades and get hurt just by walking too much, these shoes are for you", I'd probably give them a go.
Looks like Sole Tech brands have a bit of in store inventory climbing to do. This is based off shoe inventory value from a bunch of shops (https://www.slapmagazine.com/index.php?topic=127112.0).
(https://i.imgur.com/BSSJCa1.png)
Well i'll be
Is NB# really taking the most wall space?
Kinda sick to be honest
Sucks for skater owned
I guess with Adidas in the chart the numbers will change little bit, but it's a really cool way to picture the market.
That been said my problem with emerica is the value of their shoes, I had them in the cart so many times but at the end I always find something more appealing from another brand.
Also the shipping in their website doesn't help much, they lowered the free shipping to 75 but before that it was like 120...
whoops, totally forgot about adidas. never owned a pair of those for skating, but as a kid the gazelles and sambas were my go to for soccer.
updated chart:
(https://i.imgur.com/N9QaH0N.png)
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First pair of skate shoes I ever purchased from a skate shop were the blue Emerica Marc Johnson's way back in the late 90s. Honestly can't remember if I've owned a pair of Emerica's since then.
Edit: Did purchase a pair of Reynolds at some point
If they marketed a shoe model towards "People who've been skating for decades and get hurt just by walking too much, these shoes are for you", I'd probably give them a go.
Looks like Sole Tech brands have a bit of in store inventory climbing to do. This is based off shoe inventory value from a bunch of shops (https://www.slapmagazine.com/index.php?topic=127112.0).
(https://i.imgur.com/BSSJCa1.png)
Well i'll be
Is NB# really taking the most wall space?
Kinda sick to be honest
Sucks for skater owned
I guess with Adidas in the chart the numbers will change little bit, but it's a really cool way to picture the market.
That been said my problem with emerica is the value of their shoes, I had them in the cart so many times but at the end I always find something more appealing from another brand.
Also the shipping in their website doesn't help much, they lowered the free shipping to 75 but before that it was like 120...
whoops, totally forgot about adidas. never owned a pair of those for skating, but as a kid the gazelles and sambas were my go to for soccer.
updated chart:
(https://i.imgur.com/N9QaH0N.png)
I know it probably doesn't extrapolate evenly, but it's crazy to think SoleTech as a whole only comprises 5.1% of shops. That's so small.
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The only takeaway from the pie chart should be that Etnies are rare, and therefore many people are buying them because they are the best shoes in the world.
(Just kidding, I know how it works)
Seriously though, How could anyone look at that pie chart and think that a shoe company except those big ones could survive?
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The two options for brand creative direction: clean or gritty. Glad to see that Emerica will be truly evolving into something new and exciting with its new gritty analog direction. Lmao.
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Make Ed 1s and I’ll keep you in business
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The two options for brand creative direction: clean or gritty. Glad to see that Emerica will be truly evolving into something new and exciting with its new gritty analog direction. Lmao.
Show me where soletech hurt you
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Something I noticed personally being a US 11.5 size for most of Etnies cupsoles is that shops are hard pressed to stock more than 1-2 units of sizes 10 - 13 (especially the half sizes like my 11.5). My local shops that do carry Soletech are slim or none for 11.5s. I regularly come in looking for 11.5s so they get the hint that they should stock that size more in their pre-books since I prefer to buy there 90% of the time.
Either those less common sizes for them don't sell as well so they don't stock them or they don't stock them as well because they don't expect them to sell as well. I get why they don't chance it if they're not sure if it will sit or not.
For etnies mostly, and to a lesser degree emerica and es, I've had to buy directly from their site OR scour for random shops & stores online for a color/model I wanted.
Soletech is perhaps, indirectly undercutting the very skate shops/scene/brand reputation they want to portray/support in order to stay afloat by nudging people to go D2C. We see the same practice with big brands having high minimums for pre books in shops, so they push us to buy directly with good sales/artificial scarcity, etc.
I can't offer a solution here, but thought I'd share that thought and see if anyone else has observed it. Maybe restructuring the pipeline of brand to consumer for buying their products needs adjustment alongside the quality and image of their footwear.
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He talks about making the brand more global in the interview but they just dropped Rob Pace…one of their only non-american riders.
Any where why they dropped him? He fits the image of Emerica pretty well and is far from his prime. I can’t wait to see what homie puts out in the future
He was put on, and then management almost immediately changed (Tim out) and new mgmt claimed they could no longer pay him what was agreed or renew anyone's contracts. They asked if he would skate for Emerica for free. For the record, his retainer was supposed to be the absolute bare minimum $500 a month. New management blamed old management for the 'miscommunication'.
Absolutely hilarious that Henderson is coming out with 'we want to promote our ams' and 'we want people from outside of California'. It makes it sound like Pace quit or was forced out for some other reason when really you had the perfect candidate who was am, turned pro, loves the company to pieces, made the top 5 SOTY contenders repping Emerica hard and they couldn't even pay him 6000 dollars a year? Fuck outta here.
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^
I don’t get why they would get rid of Rob Pace instead of Jeremy Leabres or Chris Wimer. They had someone who reaches both American and Australian demographics, and actually puts out interesting parts.
Getting rid of the previous TM was stupid, considering all the roles he handled. It seems like they’re undoing everything Tim did to make Emerica more appealing to skateboarders. Maybe, the changes didn’t boost overall sales, but Emerica, under Tim, had me actually paying attention to Sole Tech, instead of NB#.
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I think the real issue is that the shoes just don’t protect your feet like the bigger brands do
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Something I noticed personally being a US 11.5 size for most of Etnies cupsoles is that shops are hard pressed to stock more than 1-2 units of sizes 10 - 13 (especially the half sizes like my 11.5). My local shops that do carry Soletech are slim or none for 11.5s. I regularly come in looking for 11.5s so they get the hint that they should stock that size more in their pre-books since I prefer to buy there 90% of the time.
Either those less common sizes for them don't sell as well so they don't stock them or they don't stock them as well because they don't expect them to sell as well. I get why they don't chance it if they're not sure if it will sit or not.
For etnies mostly, and to a lesser degree emerica and es, I've had to buy directly from their site OR scour for random shops & stores online for a color/model I wanted.
Soletech is perhaps, indirectly undercutting the very skate shops/scene/brand reputation they want to portray/support in order to stay afloat by nudging people to go D2C. We see the same practice with big brands having high minimums for pre books in shops, so they push us to buy directly with good sales/artificial scarcity, etc.
I can't offer a solution here, but thought I'd share that thought and see if anyone else has observed it. Maybe restructuring the pipeline of brand to consumer for buying their products needs adjustment alongside the quality and image of their footwear.
You are looking for a large sized shoe from an unpopular brand in a sport primarily done by children. The shop likely ain't carrying that size because it doesn't sell. The d2c argument is valid but that is not why you can't buy big soletech shoes in skate shops. Some adult normie off the street would cop some large size Nike, Adidas, or Vans but they sure as hell aren't buying anything from a brand that isn't known outside skateboarding.
Soletech is just another company but this message boards constant simping for corporate shoe brands is puzzling to me. None of the reasons I hear ever really seem to add up. Always something something quality and corny, meanwhile vans has a similar lineup and their own version of zumiez in malls across America and not a peep.
Buy what you want but stop reaching trying to justify it.
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paira bunch of shops (https://www.slapmagazine.com/index.php?topic=127112.0).
(https://i.imgur.com/BSSJCa1.png)
edit: see updated chart with adidas added a few posts down
Pretty damn accurate for my store except we don’t carry Etnies or DC. Lakai holds a larger share but is more dead weight at this point. Sadly for us the Terrace and Trudger aren’t big sellers even if those two team riders are from our region.
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I just can’t understand why brands want to bring back people who had success in a different era, let’s move forward and not get stuck in the past.
Nostalgia does rule this industry so what do I know?
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The only takeaway from the pie chart should be that Etnies are rare, and therefore many people are buying them because they are the best shoes in the world.
(Just kidding, I know how it works)
Seriously though, How could anyone look at that pie chart and think that a shoe company except those big ones could survive?
Last Resort seems do be doing alright. There's definitely room for more well executed, skater owned brands, especially if Lakai, sole-tech and DC exit.
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How long will Hours is Yours last do we think 🤔
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who wouldnt trust the mastermind who put collin provost and jamie tancowny on?
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What is “Jake Phelps Logo” that they put on the mysterious 12 pairs of MJs they made him?
I want a pair of retro MJs but not for $100…if anyone wants to sell a size 10 with some life left in em PM me.
black/silver and navy/grey Tilt’s were good. Emerica was still tight for a while.
Leave that that shit alone it will never be what it was.
Stop dragging its name.
Alien Workshop was dope 10-20 years ago but it shouldnt exist in 2024. Time and place same shit.
Free max b
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Something I noticed personally being a US 11.5 size for most of Etnies cupsoles is that shops are hard pressed to stock more than 1-2 units of sizes 10 - 13 (especially the half sizes like my 11.5). My local shops that do carry Soletech are slim or none for 11.5s. I regularly come in looking for 11.5s so they get the hint that they should stock that size more in their pre-books since I prefer to buy there 90% of the time.
Either those less common sizes for them don't sell as well so they don't stock them or they don't stock them as well because they don't expect them to sell as well. I get why they don't chance it if they're not sure if it will sit or not.
For etnies mostly, and to a lesser degree emerica and es, I've had to buy directly from their site OR scour for random shops & stores online for a color/model I wanted.
Soletech is perhaps, indirectly undercutting the very skate shops/scene/brand reputation they want to portray/support in order to stay afloat by nudging people to go D2C. We see the same practice with big brands having high minimums for pre books in shops, so they push us to buy directly with good sales/artificial scarcity, etc.
I can't offer a solution here, but thought I'd share that thought and see if anyone else has observed it. Maybe restructuring the pipeline of brand to consumer for buying their products needs adjustment alongside the quality and image of their footwear.
I noticed it too. The big local here doesn’t seem to offer sizes over 11 pretty often. I thought maybe it was the ones with hook-ups getting the shoes first, but reading your post made me think that maybe they just never get sizes larger than 11 in the first place.
And for the d2c, it’s my biggest criticism of Etnies. They’re my shoes of choice, but they are not in locals anymore. And online shops barely have them either. (Joslin specifically).
If I was a shop owner, I’d be pretty damned pissed that here I am buying wholesale to sell to the locals, and the website goes and sells the shoes direct to consumer at a wholesale price, effectively undercutting me because I can’t afford to sell the shoe at 50% off.
And thinking of it that way, it’s no wonder that no one stocks Etnies anymore: the only entity that profits is Etnies. It could easily be argued that Etnies is doing shit for local skateboarding in that regards.
:(
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Something I noticed personally being a US 11.5 size for most of Etnies cupsoles is that shops are hard pressed to stock more than 1-2 units of sizes 10 - 13 (especially the half sizes like my 11.5). My local shops that do carry Soletech are slim or none for 11.5s. I regularly come in looking for 11.5s so they get the hint that they should stock that size more in their pre-books since I prefer to buy there 90% of the time.
Either those less common sizes for them don't sell as well so they don't stock them or they don't stock them as well because they don't expect them to sell as well. I get why they don't chance it if they're not sure if it will sit or not.
For etnies mostly, and to a lesser degree emerica and es, I've had to buy directly from their site OR scour for random shops & stores online for a color/model I wanted.
Soletech is perhaps, indirectly undercutting the very skate shops/scene/brand reputation they want to portray/support in order to stay afloat by nudging people to go D2C. We see the same practice with big brands having high minimums for pre books in shops, so they push us to buy directly with good sales/artificial scarcity, etc.
I can't offer a solution here, but thought I'd share that thought and see if anyone else has observed it. Maybe restructuring the pipeline of brand to consumer for buying their products needs adjustment alongside the quality and image of their footwear.
Soletech is just another company but this message boards constant simping for corporate shoe brands is puzzling to me. None of the reasons I hear ever really seem to add up. Always something something quality and corny, meanwhile vans has a similar lineup and their own version of zumiez in malls across America and not a peep.
Buy what you want but stop reaching trying to justify it.
The D2C aspect is a massive concern for shops, I've heard this directly from the mouth of three different shop owners as to the reasoning they don't carry Soletech anymore (besides eS retro models). It doesn't help when Soletech is offering a perpetual 20% off/free shipping discount and immediately undercuts shops. Even mega-brands like Adidas, NB#, Vans, and Nike don't do that (Vans literally has an entire line reserved for shops that they don't sell). We're at the point in skateboarding where it's become pretty obvious that almost every brand of shoe is massive, has some backing from major companies who hurt skateboarding as a whole, or engages in anti-shop/consumer behavior.
Soletech is a corp who employs a lot of wack people.
Adidas/Nike are publicly traded companies.
Lakai/DC are operated by massive venture capital firms.
Vans is just another piece of the VF Corp shitshow.
NB is another massive shoe company (family owned at least).
LRAB fucked shops on numerous occasions and are buddy buddy with Zalando.
Convincing yourself that somehow you engage in more ethical consumption than others is self-delusion and fiction, often based on complete unawareness of the industry, isolation from having to deal with companies, and a lack of empathy for those who operate small businesses that deal with shoe companies.
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Something I noticed personally being a US 11.5 size for most of Etnies cupsoles is that shops are hard pressed to stock more than 1-2 units of sizes 10 - 13 (especially the half sizes like my 11.5). My local shops that do carry Soletech are slim or none for 11.5s. I regularly come in looking for 11.5s so they get the hint that they should stock that size more in their pre-books since I prefer to buy there 90% of the time.
Either those less common sizes for them don't sell as well so they don't stock them or they don't stock them as well because they don't expect them to sell as well. I get why they don't chance it if they're not sure if it will sit or not.
For etnies mostly, and to a lesser degree emerica and es, I've had to buy directly from their site OR scour for random shops & stores online for a color/model I wanted.
Soletech is perhaps, indirectly undercutting the very skate shops/scene/brand reputation they want to portray/support in order to stay afloat by nudging people to go D2C. We see the same practice with big brands having high minimums for pre books in shops, so they push us to buy directly with good sales/artificial scarcity, etc.
I can't offer a solution here, but thought I'd share that thought and see if anyone else has observed it. Maybe restructuring the pipeline of brand to consumer for buying their products needs adjustment alongside the quality and image of their footwear.
Soletech is just another company but this message boards constant simping for corporate shoe brands is puzzling to me. None of the reasons I hear ever really seem to add up. Always something something quality and corny, meanwhile vans has a similar lineup and their own version of zumiez in malls across America and not a peep.
Buy what you want but stop reaching trying to justify it.
Soletech is a corp who employs a lot of wack people.
Adidas/Nike are publicly traded companies.
Lakai/DC are operated by massive venture capital firms.
Vans is just another piece of the VF Corp shitshow.
NB is another massive shoe company (family owned at least).
LRAB fucked shops on numerous occasions and are buddy buddy with Zalando.
Convincing yourself that somehow you engage in more ethical consumption than others is self-delusion and fiction, often based on complete unawareness of the industry, isolation from having to deal with companies, and a lack of empathy for those who operate small businesses that deal with shoe companies.
but marketing bro
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Agreed with what was said already, bringing someone who used to run it in its heyday is going to be too out of touch to run it in this era of kids who would rather skate Nike,Cons,Vans for free than Emericas for 500 bucks a month. I was never a big Emerica fan but that guy Tim did go out of his way to give people what they asked for from this board, more cupsoles, a slip on cupsole, the MJ reissue and even that wasn’t enough. It also seems like this guy is relying on people he brought in 15 years ago (Spanky/Leo) which is only going to make him more out of touch to the new generation.
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I just can’t understand why brands want to bring back people who had success in a different era, let’s move forward and not get stuck in the past.
Nostalgia does rule this industry so what do I know?
Yeah, I agree. My question is if the brand is stained enough now that even putting on cool new people might not move the needle. The brand is so far gone looking back is the only move but, like you might be saying, those older skaters are not exactly a growth sector. I guess if Spanky can put on the Stu Kirst’s of the world (but somehow couldn’t before under Tim’s leadership) that’s something - but I’m skeptical about what the brand is actually capable of until they actually show us something meaningful. I think bringing back Jerry Hsu (somehow) would be a coup.
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He talks about making the brand more global in the interview but they just dropped Rob Pace…one of their only non-american riders.
Any where why they dropped him? He fits the image of Emerica pretty well and is far from his prime. I can’t wait to see what homie puts out in the future
He was put on, and then management almost immediately changed (Tim out) and new mgmt claimed they could no longer pay him what was agreed or renew anyone's contracts. They asked if he would skate for Emerica for free. For the record, his retainer was supposed to be the absolute bare minimum $500 a month. New management blamed old management for the 'miscommunication'.
Absolutely hilarious that Henderson is coming out with 'we want to promote our ams' and 'we want people from outside of California'. It makes it sound like Pace quit or was forced out for some other reason when really you had the perfect candidate who was am, turned pro, loves the company to pieces, made the top 5 SOTY contenders repping Emerica hard and they couldn't even pay him 6000 dollars a year? Fuck outta here.
This is so insane...people wanna preach about supporting skater owned, and then they pull this shit lol. Sole tech defenders go eerily quiet when something like the pace situation happens, or dropping the whole es team, having guys in suits drop riders...
I am glad the nikes, addidas, new balance, cons, vans of the world are able to provide good pay to their riders, get them flights, and not have to sublet their apartment when they travel
Tim obviously was out of his depth and should've just been team manager and filmer, not wearing 5 different hats...working in areas he should've had no business working, no offence to Tim, i truly believe he tried his best for the brand but was pretty hamstrung to what he can do...
Going back to jeff henderson is 10 steps back imo
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Something I noticed personally being a US 11.5 size for most of Etnies cupsoles is that shops are hard pressed to stock more than 1-2 units of sizes 10 - 13 (especially the half sizes like my 11.5). My local shops that do carry Soletech are slim or none for 11.5s. I regularly come in looking for 11.5s so they get the hint that they should stock that size more in their pre-books since I prefer to buy there 90% of the time.
Either those less common sizes for them don't sell as well so they don't stock them or they don't stock them as well because they don't expect them to sell as well. I get why they don't chance it if they're not sure if it will sit or not.
For etnies mostly, and to a lesser degree emerica and es, I've had to buy directly from their site OR scour for random shops & stores online for a color/model I wanted.
Soletech is perhaps, indirectly undercutting the very skate shops/scene/brand reputation they want to portray/support in order to stay afloat by nudging people to go D2C. We see the same practice with big brands having high minimums for pre books in shops, so they push us to buy directly with good sales/artificial scarcity, etc.
I can't offer a solution here, but thought I'd share that thought and see if anyone else has observed it. Maybe restructuring the pipeline of brand to consumer for buying their products needs adjustment alongside the quality and image of their footwear.
Soletech is just another company but this message boards constant simping for corporate shoe brands is puzzling to me. None of the reasons I hear ever really seem to add up. Always something something quality and corny, meanwhile vans has a similar lineup and their own version of zumiez in malls across America and not a peep.
Buy what you want but stop reaching trying to justify it.
Unpopular is debatable. Less popular than other current brands is more accurate. They definitely still hold solid popularity or we wouldn't have threads about them. The sport has grown from primarily children to young adults as well, and many don't want the loud generic trendy models that kids will go after from the big corps. We saw that uptick since Covid, but I don't disagree there with you. We all know that youth is the target demo most of the time. There's still a large share of adults with spending money that are the target market, too. See LRAB for example.
Soletech has a pretty sizeable amount of fans across all three brands. A handful of those skaters would or do rock 10.5 - 13 (and maybe 14) but feel forced to go corporate (people pursuing Dunks or NM# 480 in size 13 or 14) often because of a lack of stock in shops for those sizes.
Skate shops serve actual skaters primarily, and then the general population. If they rarely stock larger sizes or don't stock many from certain brands because people can go direct and buy the same size for less with a % of code, then that has to impact their prebooks.
As for that last line, not sure if you're directing that to me or everyone or both? Either way, I've exhibited no examples of "reaching to justify" my purchases here. I shared thoughtful analysis about a situation, and others have, too. Are their thoughts also "reaching to justify" in your eyes?
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it astounds me the that they haven't had any incite to support anyone around the gx 1000 guys, or, just, sign t funk,
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it astounds me the that they haven't had any incite to support anyone around the gx 1000 guys, or, just, sign t funk,
I feel like etnies just eats their lunch budgetarily. Fabiana Delfino would have made so much more sense on Emerica. They should trade Winkowksi for her
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it astounds me the that they haven't had any incite to support anyone around the gx 1000 guys, or, just, sign t funk,
I feel like etnies just eats their lunch budgetarily. Fabiana Delfino would have made so much more sense on Emerica. They should trade Winkowksi for her
I think with Fabiana she wore Etnies growing up. They also probably have a bigger budget and seem to be sponsoring and flowing other women and women’s skate programs. I do agree Emerica could use some women and diversity on their team.
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What is “Jake Phelps Logo” that they put on the mysterious 12 pairs of MJs they made him?
Free max b
My guess is that they printed "You're right about everything 100% of the time" upside down so he could read it while putting on his shoes.
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it astounds me the that they haven't had any incite to support anyone around the gx 1000 guys, or, just, sign t funk,
I definitely tried. Someone sort of mentioned it already but you'd be surprised how many skaters would choose to just get free shoes from a cooler company over getting a check and actually being a part of a smaller brand. I'm sure people think we weren't trying to diversify the brand through team riders but the sad truth is that during my time there, I tried to get so many different riders who either just weren't interested or ended up getting a better offer which of course I totally understood and supported.
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it astounds me the that they haven't had any incite to support anyone around the gx 1000 guys, or, just, sign t funk,
Tim you did a great job with the brand. Pierre and Don should to put her out to pasture. She had a great run, but not paying a 2023 SOTY nominated rider who has loads of coverage $6K per year and asking them to ride for free is not the move. They’ve arguably damaged Rob’s career by putting him then dropping him so soon. If they were truly for the skaters they would support him to transition to a new sponsor and give him more notice.
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What is “Jake Phelps Logo” that they put on the mysterious 12 pairs of MJs they made him?
Free max b
My guess is that they printed "You're right about everything 100% of the time" upside down so he could read it while putting on his shoes.
I saw him on the 22, when I was in SF. I’m pretty sure he had the skate goat on the tongues.
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it astounds me the that they haven't had any incite to support anyone around the gx 1000 guys, or, just, sign t funk,
Don’t even Nike flow guys get some kinda of financial/travel incentive? I imagine it might be
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it astounds me the that they haven't had any incite to support anyone around the gx 1000 guys, or, just, sign t funk,
I think this was me......i know one guy you tried and reached out to, and he was basically like even though he is offering some dough....I just can't stomach wearing the shoes
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it astounds me the that they haven't had any incite to support anyone around the gx 1000 guys, or, just, sign t funk,
Don’t even Nike flow guys get some kinda of financial/travel incentive? I imagine it might be
There’s lots of people who only get photo incentive and free shoes which even though that sounds cool as a kid, it doesn’t pay the bills as an adult. You eventually get tired of having to hustle majority of you box just to barely get by. The worst is when people get strung along and the company knows they’re never going to put them on. Sometimes it’s the skaters fault for being naive but most of the time is the company telling the skater “maybe when we look at the budget next year, keep repping the shoes though” yeah after year.
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it astounds me the that they haven't had any incite to support anyone around the gx 1000 guys, or, just, sign t funk,
Don’t even Nike flow guys get some kinda of financial/travel incentive? I imagine it might be
Completely depends on who the skater is and what sort of program they have been offered. Depending on the tier, some get incentive or travel budget while others are strictly just getting flowed free shoes and that’s it. I will say a handful of the people I reached out to were ones that were the latter.
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it astounds me the that they haven't had any incite to support anyone around the gx 1000 guys, or, just, sign t funk,
I think this was me......i know one guy you tried and reached out to, and he was basically like even though he is offering some dough....I just can't stomach wearing the shoes
No way, small world. I wonder who it was haha. But yes unfortunately that was the situation majority of the time but not much could be done about that.
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it astounds me the that they haven't had any incite to support anyone around the gx 1000 guys, or, just, sign t funk,
I think this was me......i know one guy you tried and reached out to, and he was basically like even though he is offering some dough....I just can't stomach wearing the shoes
Ouch. damn. :o That sounds like you could swap “Emerica” for “carryuma”, and it would read exactly the same.
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it astounds me the that they haven't had any incite to support anyone around the gx 1000 guys, or, just, sign t funk,
Sammy Montano talked about this in an interview years ago and concluded he would rather be a part of a brand than on bro flow.
Henderson has his work cut out for him in this case.
I remain skeptical, especially cutting Rob Pace after the 2023 he had, and being in charge when there were two prominent, incredible skaters in Europe that Emerica completely biffed it on. The brand actively pushed Eniz and Maatman aside, but now [may] see the error of those choices.
It’d be nice to see a resurrection and return to some kind of glory, but focusing on two-near-forty-year-olds from the heyday is suspect.
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Idk Rob Pace is good but Kevin Baekkel already exists and rides for Emerica. Until this thread I thought they were the same person honestly. Just seems redundant and I can understand cutting the new guy instead of veterans.
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it astounds me the that they haven't had any incite to support anyone around the gx 1000 guys, or, just, sign t funk,
I think this was me......i know one guy you tried and reached out to, and he was basically like even though he is offering some dough....I just can't stomach wearing the shoes
do you guys think this would still be the case if there were only one or two of the big brands in the skate shoe space? Or is the whole line of shoes really that bad?
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it astounds me the that they haven't had any incite to support anyone around the gx 1000 guys, or, just, sign t funk,
I think this was me......i know one guy you tried and reached out to, and he was basically like even though he is offering some dough....I just can't stomach wearing the shoes
do you guys think this would still be the case if there were only one or two of the big brands in the skate shoe space? Or is the whole line of shoes really that bad?
I don’t think it has much to do with the shoes them selves and more the fact that most people would rather be “that guy that skates for Nike” than “that guy that skates for Emerica”. In 2024 Nike seems like a cooler and more prestigious brand to the general public and the quality of skate shoes and the industry insider stuff we talk about really isn’t that relevant to the everyday skater.
I worked in a random discount shoe store and it was crazy to me how many shitty straight to outlet Nikes we sold over actual performance Asics and New Balance. I’m convinced people mainly care about the logo on their feet and how they are perceived which goes for the skate scene as well.
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The big problem with emerica for me is that shoes feel like they’re made out of fucking cardboard. They seem so goddamn cheap and worthless and yet cost as much as any other shoe. I bought some g6 slips online awhile back and it’s like putting your foot in a potato. The fit is fucking terrible and loose in all the wrong places. The g6 “cupsole protection” feels like standing on mashed potatoes. They’re potato shoes thru and thru. I honestly don’t know how the riders skate as well as they do in them. Like honestly it’s fucking amazing that they can skate in those pieces of absolute dogshit.
Get the quality better and get someone who can design worth a shit and you’ll be back on track. Don’t just try to re-market your shitty ass product with a new logo and color scheme cause it ain’t gonna work.
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it astounds me the that they haven't had any incite to support anyone around the gx 1000 guys, or, just, sign t funk,
I think this was me......i know one guy you tried and reached out to, and he was basically like even though he is offering some dough....I just can't stomach wearing the shoes
do you guys think this would still be the case if there were only one or two of the big brands in the skate shoe space? Or is the whole line of shoes really that bad?
I don’t think it has much to do with the shoes them selves and more the fact that most people would rather be “that guy that skates for Nike” than “that guy that skates for Emerica”. In 2024 Nike seems like a cooler and more prestigious brand to the general public and the quality of skate shoes and the industry insider stuff we talk about really isn’t that relevant to the everyday skater.
I worked in a random discount shoe store and it was crazy to me how many shitty straight to outlet Nikes we sold over actual performance Asics and New Balance. I’m convinced people mainly care about the logo on their feet and how they are perceived which goes for the skate scene as well.
Makes sense
I know most pro skaters arent too into it, but one thing i noticed Nike does really well is the whole storytelling thing, and thats what sells now.I know at least for the younger generation its all about who theyre supporting, and most sponsored folk dont like getting in front of the camera in that way. Hate to bring him up here but everyone sees all the GH threads in this place. His success is because people feel like they know him
I could be totally wrong though
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They better be trying to get Taylor Kirby right now
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it astounds me the that they haven't had any incite to support anyone around the gx 1000 guys, or, just, sign t funk,
I think this was me......i know one guy you tried and reached out to, and he was basically like even though he is offering some dough....I just can't stomach wearing the shoes
do you guys think this would still be the case if there were only one or two of the big brands in the skate shoe space? Or is the whole line of shoes really that bad?
I don’t think it has much to do with the shoes them selves and more the fact that most people would rather be “that guy that skates for Nike” than “that guy that skates for Emerica”. In 2024 Nike seems like a cooler and more prestigious brand to the general public and the quality of skate shoes and the industry insider stuff we talk about really isn’t that relevant to the everyday skater.
I worked in a random discount shoe store and it was crazy to me how many shitty straight to outlet Nikes we sold over actual performance Asics and New Balance. I’m convinced people mainly care about the logo on their feet and how they are perceived which goes for the skate scene as well.
Makes sense
I know most pro skaters arent too into it, but one thing i noticed Nike does really well is the whole storytelling thing, and thats what sells now.I know at least for the younger generation its all about who theyre supporting, and most sponsored folk dont like getting in front of the camera in that way. Hate to bring him up here but everyone sees all the GH threads in this place. His success is because people feel like they know him
I could be totally wrong though
Not so sure about that. What story do guys like Ville, Kadow, Trey Gipson or Kader tell? Just thinking of young hot Trendsetters, I feel like we're almost at a place where it's more successful to be a little mysterious and not too open.
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it astounds me the that they haven't had any incite to support anyone around the gx 1000 guys, or, just, sign t funk,
I think this was me......i know one guy you tried and reached out to, and he was basically like even though he is offering some dough....I just can't stomach wearing the shoes
do you guys think this would still be the case if there were only one or two of the big brands in the skate shoe space? Or is the whole line of shoes really that bad?
I don’t think it has much to do with the shoes them selves and more the fact that most people would rather be “that guy that skates for Nike” than “that guy that skates for Emerica”. In 2024 Nike seems like a cooler and more prestigious brand to the general public and the quality of skate shoes and the industry insider stuff we talk about really isn’t that relevant to the everyday skater.
I worked in a random discount shoe store and it was crazy to me how many shitty straight to outlet Nikes we sold over actual performance Asics and New Balance. I’m convinced people mainly care about the logo on their feet and how they are perceived which goes for the skate scene as well.
Makes sense
I know most pro skaters arent too into it, but one thing i noticed Nike does really well is the whole storytelling thing, and thats what sells now.I know at least for the younger generation its all about who theyre supporting, and most sponsored folk dont like getting in front of the camera in that way. Hate to bring him up here but everyone sees all the GH threads in this place. His success is because people feel like they know him
I could be totally wrong though
Not so sure about that. What story do guys like Ville, Kadow, Trey Gipson or Kader tell? Just thinking of young hot Trendsetters, I feel like we're almost at a place where it's more successful to be a little mysterious and not too open.
oh shit, very good point
I guess Im pulling straws trying to understand why no one cares for emerica anymore, but it really is as simple as everyone in this thread has already said
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They better be trying to get Taylor Kirby right now
I saw him skate in person in Louisville and I can't get over how much I like his flow and style.
Kirby aside, If they don't go back to the full G6 cupsole I don't know if I'll try another pair of their shoes. I love the KSL G6 and I have a pair in the closet since they dropped the G6 cupsole.
They look like blah but fit me well.
They could definitely use some artistic style adjustments.
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The big problem with emerica for me is that shoes feel like they’re made out of fucking cardboard. They seem so goddamn cheap and worthless and yet cost as much as any other shoe. I bought some g6 slips online awhile back and it’s like putting your foot in a potato. The fit is fucking terrible and loose in all the wrong places. The g6 “cupsole protection” feels like standing on mashed potatoes. They’re potato shoes thru and thru. I honestly don’t know how the riders skate as well as they do in them. Like honestly it’s fucking amazing that they can skate in those pieces of absolute dogshit.
Get the quality better and get someone who can design worth a shit and you’ll be back on track. Don’t just try to re-market your shitty ass product with a new logo and color scheme cause it ain’t gonna work.
The Dicksons are super good though, kinda surprised no one ever mentions them one way or another.
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The big problem with emerica for me is that shoes feel like they’re made out of fucking cardboard. They seem so goddamn cheap and worthless and yet cost as much as any other shoe. I bought some g6 slips online awhile back and it’s like putting your foot in a potato. The fit is fucking terrible and loose in all the wrong places. The g6 “cupsole protection” feels like standing on mashed potatoes. They’re potato shoes thru and thru. I honestly don’t know how the riders skate as well as they do in them. Like honestly it’s fucking amazing that they can skate in those pieces of absolute dogshit.
Get the quality better and get someone who can design worth a shit and you’ll be back on track. Don’t just try to re-market your shitty ass product with a new logo and color scheme cause it ain’t gonna work.
The Dicksons are super good though, kinda surprised no one ever mentions them one way or another.
If they fit. Had two pairs of the same colorway fit completely different. QC is pretty abysmal at sole tech over the last decade or so
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The big problem with emerica for me is that shoes feel like they’re made out of fucking cardboard. They seem so goddamn cheap and worthless and yet cost as much as any other shoe. I bought some g6 slips online awhile back and it’s like putting your foot in a potato. The fit is fucking terrible and loose in all the wrong places. The g6 “cupsole protection” feels like standing on mashed potatoes. They’re potato shoes thru and thru. I honestly don’t know how the riders skate as well as they do in them. Like honestly it’s fucking amazing that they can skate in those pieces of absolute dogshit.
Get the quality better and get someone who can design worth a shit and you’ll be back on track. Don’t just try to re-market your shitty ass product with a new logo and color scheme cause it ain’t gonna work.
You do not know what a fucking potato is, until you have seen a brown Accel OG on foot.
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Any truth in spanky and Leo leaving Emerica rumours
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Where are you seeing those rumors? I feel like every so often, Spanky leaving comes up but haven't see it pop up in a while.
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Well Brandon Hoban wining SLS is fast tracked him on getting a Pro Model but im not sure its related.
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Well Brandon Hoban wining SLS is fast tracked him on getting a Pro Model but im not sure its related.
Samples, maybe catalog photos, of his shoe leaked last year.
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Let's go Braden!
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Where are you seeing those rumors? I feel like every so often, Spanky leaving comes up but haven't see it pop up in a while.
Yeah these new rumors seem unwarranted. Pretty sure Spanly posted a set up the other day with a huge Emerica sticker on the nose. I wouldn’t be surprised if these guys wanted to leave eventually but I also don’t see them bouncing yet.
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Where are you seeing those rumors? I feel like every so often, Spanky leaving comes up but haven't see it pop up in a while.
It was one of the lads at the park mentioned it in passing. I guess he saw it somewhere I’ll need to ask him today if it doesn’t rain where he saw it.
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Does this lad happen to be the Euro TM?
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Well Brandon Hoban wining SLS is fast tracked him on getting a Pro Model but im not sure its related.
Samples, maybe catalog photos, of his shoe leaked last year.
Is it unexpected and a fresh start for the languishing Emerica aesthetic?
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Spanky seems to be showing of his Hi version of his shoe pretty hard, I can’t believe he’d be skating them to death like he is if he’s got an offer to bounce.
Leo Romero is the kind of guy I couldn’t see on any other shoe brand, I barely think of him as an Emerica rider, and that comes from skating his shoe for the last three years exclusively
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Might could be that their rumored departures are in some way associated with the sale of all of the SoleTech brands to Nidecker Group.
Change is afoot over there.
You don’t stay moored in shallow waters when there’s a big storm coming; maybe dudes have a weather eye on the horizon & are busy pulling up anchor while the rest of us sit on shore discussing the ominous looking clouds in the distance.
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with multiple failed comeback attempts from Axion and Circa, I'm having a hard time understanding why everyone things theres so much value in these older names.
Sole Tech should start a new brand.
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with multiple failed comeback attempts from Axion and Circa, I'm having a hard time understanding why everyone things theres so much value in these older names.
Sole Tech should start a new brand.
That's actually an interesting idea. I wonder what sort of direction /image and team they would go for with a hypothetical new Soletech brand.
But those company comebacks don't really feel or seem like real tries at establishing a brand again. At least Fallen actually hired some of the old team. When the likes of eS etc come backs happen and they don't have a team or do the other things that skate shoe companies do (release videos or short edits) it always feels half baked to me.
A lot of the shoe market seems weird to me these last few years. Like the Hrs is Yours / HOURS thing with Herman, that $400 shoe company sponsoring skaters, Li Ning and whatever their deal is with just EE, Fallen wanting 100$ + shipping for vulc reissues, eS in general, and Emerica have certainly made some odd decisions.
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https://shop-eat-surf.com/2024/05/sole-tech-owner-to-sell-etnies-es-emerica-and-thirtytwo-to-nidecker-group/
interesting read. kind of glad that at least the Nideckers are three younger-ish brothers, who probably grew up seeing the heyday and respect that eS/etnies/Emerica had. hoping they can bring back the G6 midsole or at least whatever the new midsole tech will be in the next couple years will be able to compete with corpo. but it sounds like they're leaning into the puffy re-boots for the near future.
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Might could be that their rumored departures are in some way associated with the sale of all of the SoleTech brands to Nidecker Group.
Change is afoot over there.
You don’t stay moored in shallow waters when there’s a big storm coming; maybe dudes have a weather eye on the horizon & are busy pulling up anchor while the rest of us sit on shore discussing the ominous looking clouds in the distance.
This is where I think the rumours have came from, I wasn’t aware Sole Tech was even up for sale.
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Just heard from a reliable source he quit working at emerica on Friday lol
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Unfortunately the skateboarding world will never ever know the full extent of how fucked up work culture inside sole technology is and has been for decades. The fact that he went back is insane because they did him and everyone on Emerica so dirty to begin with 10 or so years ago.
My guess is he may not have known about the Nidecker deal when he was hired earlier this year. And they use their usual "Oh we want you to be in control and do it the right way like things used to be!" gaslighting to get him back.
That's a popular Sole Tech narrative to lure candidates to take jobs. "We are gonna do it right again! You will be well funded and resourced to get the job done!"
The dumbest worst people have been in charge there for 20 years now.
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A good amount of shoe brands don’t even make 12.5. I’m looking at you vans
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Unfortunately the skateboarding world will never ever know the full extent of how fucked up work culture inside sole technology is and has been for decades. The fact that he went back is insane because they did him and everyone on Emerica so dirty to begin with 10 or so years ago.
My guess is he may not have known about the Nidecker deal when he was hired earlier this year. And they use their usual "Oh we want you to be in control and do it the right way like things used to be!" gaslighting to get him back.
That's a popular Sole Tech narrative to lure candidates to take jobs. "We are gonna do it right again! You will be well funded and resourced to get the job done!"
The dumbest worst people have been in charge there for 20 years now.
ownership changes hands, the issues remain the same, and none of these three brands have produced a new and relevant footwear product in recent memory. Unfortunately, they're destined for the same fate as airwalk, duffs, or any other number of private capital owned skate brands.
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(https://s20.directupload.net/images/240930/74juwzuw.jpg)
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Kind of a semi-related ramble but, starting out skating back in the early 00's, when buying shoes from brands that are considered "core". You would get extra laces, a few stickers, maybe a keyring and even a little catalog of the other seasons releases all in a shoebox, with some artwork on it.
It was memorable getting some Arto's, with the little Finnish details.
A lot of this has faded away over time along with the quality/QC of the shoes these brands are producing.
Now you get a subpar imitation of an already successful model, in a shitty brown box, no frills.
The consumer experience has taken a hit and the market is now flooded with superior products from "corp" brands.
Soletech and other similar brands have watered down their product year after year, relying on the goodwill they once generated by being a core brand and supporting skaters we're hyped on, to keep people buying product. The influential skaters have mostly moved on and as mentioned, Emerica, Etnies, etc are all due to become the next dekline/airwalk.
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Soletech should axe Emerica and start a new hesh-adjacent footwear brand
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Kind of a semi-related ramble but, starting out skating back in the early 00's, when buying shoes from brands that are considered "core". You would get extra laces, a few stickers, maybe a keyring and even a little catalog of the other seasons releases all in a shoebox, with some artwork on it.
It was memorable getting some Arto's, with the little Finnish details.
A lot of this has faded away over time along with the quality/QC of the shoes these brands are producing.
Now you get a subpar imitation of an already successful model, in a shitty brown box, no frills.
The consumer experience has taken a hit and the market is now flooded with superior products from "corp" brands.
Soletech and other similar brands have watered down their product year after year, relying on the goodwill they once generated by being a core brand and supporting skaters we're hyped on, to keep people buying product. The influential skaters have mostly moved on and as mentioned, Emerica, Etnies, etc are all due to become the next dekline/airwalk.
Eh... I'm super nostalgic for that period, and all the little things you mentioned, which came in the boxes, but the quality of the shoes skyrocketed, when Adidas and Nike came in. I specifically remember starting to skate Nikes and Adidas because they lasted significantly longer than the core brands (and I didn't have endless money)
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(https://s20.directupload.net/images/240930/74juwzuw.jpg)
I'd gnar if I could
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Kind of a semi-related ramble but, starting out skating back in the early 00's, when buying shoes from brands that are considered "core". You would get extra laces, a few stickers, maybe a keyring and even a little catalog of the other seasons releases all in a shoebox, with some artwork on it.
It was memorable getting some Arto's, with the little Finnish details.
A lot of this has faded away over time along with the quality/QC of the shoes these brands are producing.
Now you get a subpar imitation of an already successful model, in a shitty brown box, no frills.
The consumer experience has taken a hit and the market is now flooded with superior products from "corp" brands.
Soletech and other similar brands have watered down their product year after year, relying on the goodwill they once generated by being a core brand and supporting skaters we're hyped on, to keep people buying product. The influential skaters have mostly moved on and as mentioned, Emerica, Etnies, etc are all due to become the next dekline/airwalk.
Eh... I'm super nostalgic for that period, and all the little things you mentioned, which came in the boxes, but the quality of the shoes skyrocketed, when Adidas and Nike came in. I specifically remember starting to skate Nikes and Adidas because they lasted significantly longer than the core brands (and I didn't have endless money)
You are correct.
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Kind of a semi-related ramble but, starting out skating back in the early 00's, when buying shoes from brands that are considered "core". You would get extra laces, a few stickers, maybe a keyring and even a little catalog of the other seasons releases all in a shoebox, with some artwork on it.
It was memorable getting some Arto's, with the little Finnish details.
A lot of this has faded away over time along with the quality/QC of the shoes these brands are producing.
Now you get a subpar imitation of an already successful model, in a shitty brown box, no frills.
The consumer experience has taken a hit and the market is now flooded with superior products from "corp" brands.
Soletech and other similar brands have watered down their product year after year, relying on the goodwill they once generated by being a core brand and supporting skaters we're hyped on, to keep people buying product. The influential skaters have mostly moved on and as mentioned, Emerica, Etnies, etc are all due to become the next dekline/airwalk.
Eh... I'm super nostalgic for that period, and all the little things you mentioned, which came in the boxes, but the quality of the shoes skyrocketed, when Adidas and Nike came in. I specifically remember starting to skate Nikes and Adidas because they lasted significantly longer than the core brands (and I didn't have endless money)
You are correct.
The rise of the janoski was the nail in the coffin for core brands. That’s when the kids who didn’t skate stopped buying skate shoes from core brands completely it feels like. I was in high school going into college when that shoe dropped and the same lacrosse bros who wearing random team models were all wearing janoskis at frat parties the next years.
I will say at least emerica tried to revamp with the original g6 cupsoles around that time but they were just a few years early. The toe cap shoe trend from 2015-17 bought them some time but we’ve seen the downward trajectory since.
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Kind of a semi-related ramble but, starting out skating back in the early 00's, when buying shoes from brands that are considered "core". You would get extra laces, a few stickers, maybe a keyring and even a little catalog of the other seasons releases all in a shoebox, with some artwork on it.
It was memorable getting some Arto's, with the little Finnish details.
A lot of this has faded away over time along with the quality/QC of the shoes these brands are producing.
Now you get a subpar imitation of an already successful model, in a shitty brown box, no frills.
The consumer experience has taken a hit and the market is now flooded with superior products from "corp" brands.
Soletech and other similar brands have watered down their product year after year, relying on the goodwill they once generated by being a core brand and supporting skaters we're hyped on, to keep people buying product. The influential skaters have mostly moved on and as mentioned, Emerica, Etnies, etc are all due to become the next dekline/airwalk.
Eh... I'm super nostalgic for that period, and all the little things you mentioned, which came in the boxes, but the quality of the shoes skyrocketed, when Adidas and Nike came in. I specifically remember starting to skate Nikes and Adidas because they lasted significantly longer than the core brands (and I didn't have endless money)
You are correct.
The rise of the janoski was the nail in the coffin for core brands. That’s when the kids who didn’t skate stopped buying skate shoes from core brands completely it feels like. I was in high school going into college when that shoe dropped and the same lacrosse bros who wearing random team models were all wearing janoskis at frat parties the next years.
I will say at least emerica tried to revamp with the original g6 cupsoles around that time but they were just a few years early. The toe cap shoe trend from 2015-17 bought them some time but we’ve seen the downward trajectory since.
And where did Janoski quit to ride for Nike because he was unhappy there? ETNIES.
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Fingers crossed the sal 23 still comes out
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I've been told the Sal 23 release is going forward as planned.
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Kind of a semi-related ramble but, starting out skating back in the early 00's, when buying shoes from brands that are considered "core". You would get extra laces, a few stickers, maybe a keyring and even a little catalog of the other seasons releases all in a shoebox, with some artwork on it.
It was memorable getting some Arto's, with the little Finnish details.
A lot of this has faded away over time along with the quality/QC of the shoes these brands are producing.
Now you get a subpar imitation of an already successful model, in a shitty brown box, no frills.
The consumer experience has taken a hit and the market is now flooded with superior products from "corp" brands.
Soletech and other similar brands have watered down their product year after year, relying on the goodwill they once generated by being a core brand and supporting skaters we're hyped on, to keep people buying product. The influential skaters have mostly moved on and as mentioned, Emerica, Etnies, etc are all due to become the next dekline/airwalk.
Eh... I'm super nostalgic for that period, and all the little things you mentioned, which came in the boxes, but the quality of the shoes skyrocketed, when Adidas and Nike came in. I specifically remember starting to skate Nikes and Adidas because they lasted significantly longer than the core brands (and I didn't have endless money)
You are correct.
The rise of the janoski was the nail in the coffin for core brands. That’s when the kids who didn’t skate stopped buying skate shoes from core brands completely it feels like. I was in high school going into college when that shoe dropped and the same lacrosse bros who wearing random team models were all wearing janoskis at frat parties the next years.
I will say at least emerica tried to revamp with the original g6 cupsoles around that time but they were just a few years early. The toe cap shoe trend from 2015-17 bought them some time but we’ve seen the downward trajectory since.
And where did Janoski quit to ride for Nike because he was unhappy there? ETNIES.
We get it bro, you reeeeally disliked your tenure at SoleTech
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I've been told the Sal 23 release is going forward as planned.
Shoe has been re-released so many times already and sucks balls every time.
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Kind of a semi-related ramble but, starting out skating back in the early 00's, when buying shoes from brands that are considered "core". You would get extra laces, a few stickers, maybe a keyring and even a little catalog of the other seasons releases all in a shoebox, with some artwork on it.
It was memorable getting some Arto's, with the little Finnish details.
A lot of this has faded away over time along with the quality/QC of the shoes these brands are producing.
Now you get a subpar imitation of an already successful model, in a shitty brown box, no frills.
The consumer experience has taken a hit and the market is now flooded with superior products from "corp" brands.
Soletech and other similar brands have watered down their product year after year, relying on the goodwill they once generated by being a core brand and supporting skaters we're hyped on, to keep people buying product. The influential skaters have mostly moved on and as mentioned, Emerica, Etnies, etc are all due to become the next dekline/airwalk.
Eh... I'm super nostalgic for that period, and all the little things you mentioned, which came in the boxes, but the quality of the shoes skyrocketed, when Adidas and Nike came in. I specifically remember starting to skate Nikes and Adidas because they lasted significantly longer than the core brands (and I didn't have endless money)
You are correct.
The rise of the janoski was the nail in the coffin for core brands. That’s when the kids who didn’t skate stopped buying skate shoes from core brands completely it feels like. I was in high school going into college when that shoe dropped and the same lacrosse bros who wearing random team models were all wearing janoskis at frat parties the next years.
I will say at least emerica tried to revamp with the original g6 cupsoles around that time but they were just a few years early. The toe cap shoe trend from 2015-17 bought them some time but we’ve seen the downward trajectory since.
And where did Janoski quit to ride for Nike because he was unhappy there? ETNIES.
Has nothing to do with a tenure at Sole Tech and everything to do with the fact that, much like Crailtap, even when they were beloved they were fucking skateboarders over and blowing it, long before the general public knew, but staff and riders were dipping and it took a while for things to catch up with them, but it always does. Sole Tech destroyed itself decades ago and any other narrative they've created about bigger brands or whatever is complete horseshit.
For the shoe nerds, who may not know, the “Faction” was the etnies Janoski that they turned into a team shoe when he left.
(https://i.ibb.co/3yDzm3C/IMG-9296.jpg) (https://ibb.co/3yDzm3C)(https://i.ibb.co/FHYrV7q/IMG-9297.jpg) (https://ibb.co/FHYrV7q)
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Because they didnt want to do the shoes Janoski wanted.
Imagine how they felt.
But i dont think the same exactly shoe with etnies wouldnt have had the success as the nike one.
Cause nike is a marketing monster
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Because they didnt want to do the shoes Janoski wanted.
Imagine how they felt.
But i dont think the same exactly shoe with etnies wouldnt have had the success as the nike one.
Cause nike is a marketing monster
Like the big dummies they are.
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Because they didnt want to do the shoes Janoski wanted.
Imagine how they felt.
But i dont think the same exactly shoe with etnies wouldnt have had the success as the nike one.
Cause nike is a marketing monster
Like the big dummies they are.
Ha !
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Real talk: was this character named after Stephan Janoski?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d6pDMiyVVc
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Real talk: was this character named after Stephan Janoski?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d6pDMiyVVc
It's pretty unlikely Stevie was named after Stefan, but not impossible. Danny McBride and the rest of the show's creators are definitely aware of skateboarding and it's culture. I think they reference Caballero in The Foot Fist Way. At least one of those dudes used to skate.
Edit: Here's Danny McBride "learning to skate"
https://youtu.be/qMTrxNw7IGs?si=0PtnVbPNLpeVG8tC
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https://youtu.be/FFwMCeX8ARc?si=WAuVG89_3Sb3kKmH (https://youtu.be/FFwMCeX8ARc?si=WAuVG89_3Sb3kKmH)
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https://youtu.be/FFwMCeX8ARc?si=WAuVG89_3Sb3kKmH (https://youtu.be/FFwMCeX8ARc?si=WAuVG89_3Sb3kKmH)
There it is. IDK why I thought it was from Foot Fist Way. Maybe they mention skating in that one too
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Because they didnt want to do the shoes Janoski wanted.
Imagine how they felt.
But i dont think the same exactly shoe with etnies wouldnt have had the success as the nike one.
Cause nike is a marketing monster
Yeah I agree, but largely I think that's down to quality - as well as the little downsized Swoosh on a boat shoe being instantly iconic and recognisable. Fully double-take worthy for the time no matter who you were. Marketing / reach of Nike is certainly bigger than Etnies, no doubt about that, but I don't think the marketing monster for the Janoski truly kicked in until the shoe was already becoming a phenomenon.
And on the quality note - I had about 3 or 4 pairs of Etnies Jameson 2s (suede version and Canvas models), really liked the shoe and it was good to skate but they were all outlasted by a pair of fucking Canvas Janoskis.
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No way the Janoski design would have been as popular if it were not a Nke shoe. It's initial appeal was that it looked totally different from all other Nike's