Jenkem interviews with EU shops on the state of shops

[RichardBarkley]

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Real talk. I've been to most of the shops in this article. Usually you enter and face some dickhead that thinks he's the shit because they happen to work at the "cool skateshop". Dont even acknowledge you, have some kind of attitude... Always puts me off of even buying anything to support. What's really the incentive to support those skate shops honestly?
You gotta have the finger in the pulse and stay connected with what the kids want, I see way too much bitterness in shops that think we owe them something just cause they were the "OG's" and do nothing to really motivate me and support them.

In the brighter side I think CyberCafe mentioned in the list is doing good things in the Lisbon scene... They got a good crew going, interesting product offering, do a shit ton of content and events that keep people engaged. I'm a fan.

[close]

i visited cybercafe last february and i got that exact vibe from the guy behind the counter, but i expected it since it's a super boutique-y shop. there were no homies inside, it was just me, my friend and the shop guy. my jeans weren't as faded and slim as shop guy's so he was looking at me funny at first but after i expressed my interest in spending some money there he got nicer. i bought a 45 euro shop tee, it was discounted to 35 euros on the website but the guy charged me 45 anyway. i like skateshops so i didn't mention it and paid the 45 for the culture. after wearing it once or twice i washed it in 30 degrees celcius and it shrunk. it's a 2xl but it fits like a large now.

[close]

Damn ok that sucks. First time I went there a few years ago the owner was there and was super nice, engaged in a conversation for a bit and we even exchanged IGs and stuff so I left with a good impression. I was trying to start a brand with some homies at the time and we even got to partner up in a event in Porto, which is not even really their market but was cool of them.
I did go again this last Christmas when visiting some friends and there was some other younger dude there that wasn’t super communicative but wasn’t rude or anything. I also wasn’t really with my “skate attire”, I guess he just assumed I was a tourist and didn’t really pay attention. I bought a beanie and left.

But well, at the end of the day this is all anecdotal evidence. Make whatever out of it.

I've been twice and bad vibes both times. Super cool guy by the til. A young guy that was totally disinterested and was not talkative at all.

I won't let that take away from the fact they really do great things for the scene though. I went to a great event at Angelina they ran last summer.

It's just the vibe in the shop makes me want to leave. I was planning on buying something too.

[truthislie]

My 2 cents:

The shops all went boutique style and I get why. They need to justify the prices and cater to the hypebeasts that bring in the money. At least the shop I worked at more or less financed the skategoods with the hypebeast guys (Dunks, polar pants, palace...whatever the latest fad was).

What´s missing in this equation are the new kids. A 14 year old beginner skater does not go into a boutique style shop to buy a skateboard (or later to hang out). These places are fancy but they just don´t seem inviting when you are a kid. Of course if the guy behind the counter acts super cool it´s even worse. I mean I´m sure the average poster here is not scared to enter a skateshop but if even the people on here feel uncomfortable in some shops, how is a beginner supposed to feel?

I´m not saying all the shops have to be dirty skate rat holes, but I guess it would be cool to find some middle ground. It´s not only the prices that drive kids to online shops. I know a lot of this is easier said than done, but not being vibey should come easy.

[flipyoulike]

Seems like all of these Euro shops forgot that having a skate shop meant selling skateboards too and not just clothes

Yeah, but there are also great shops such as Concrete Wave
Their clothing section is super smal and definitly not the reason anyone visits that store. They seem to be doing most of the things right. They got a team, support a lot of contests and events. Always been super friendly and helpful to me.

https://www.concretewave.de/

[GnarAlarm]

There's always talk about how the old heads need to get out of the way and make room for the kids take over, but a funny thing about that sentiment is in real life I've never heard a person under 30 say that. Hell, online too, every time I see this it's always, without fail, some dude in his 40s'. There might be a chance that the kids...don't want it? Don't care?

Gen Z and younger seem to have very little interest in making niche, gatekept scenes that protect a "culture", it's just not much of a thing youths care about anymore, at least not on nearly the same scale as in the past. For better or worse, I just don't think they care as much about being "core" or earning your stripes to be part of a scene.

Even if they did, skateboarding will never be new or mysterious again, it will never attract "rebellious" people the way it once did. That's not anything skateboarding did wrong, that's just what happens when you've been around and in the public eye for 7+ decades. When we were kids, nobody's parents, uncles and aunts skated, nowadays everyone has a parent, uncle or aunt who skated. It'll never belong exclusively to the kids again, there was no way to avoid or change this coming to pass. 

[Groondor the Orc]

Sadly independent stores with good intentions are up against hungry megastores with leveraged ownership arrangements. With this kind of thing going on, every penny your local SOS makes is viewed as money lost by these vultures.

Two of the biggest UK warehouse stores/chain skate stores just executed the exact same strategy for their owners to cash out without paying Capital Gains Tax. Rollersnakes and Route One's owners have used Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs) to sell their business to their employees tax free. Rollersnakes might be doing this for the right reasons...but Route One is all bad news.

I don't know why the UK government ever allowed these schemes to happen, and they have tightened the rules recently so that you now have to pay 50% of the tax due, but both these sales were pushed through in advance of any changes to ensure the owners dodged any tax liability.

Of course they will try and present it as a positive, and might even have the nerve to claim 'skater owned' when the skaters who now 'own' the shops don't own anything, the trust does, and they will see any profit being top-sliced to pay the retired owner for years to come until the value of the trust is recouped. This drives a more intensely competitive environment and is just more bad news for true independents and SOS.

[moshandwallies]

I visited 7 Hills in Rome a few years ago and it seemed like a cool shop. The owner took the time to chat and tell me about their scene. He gave me some mags too. Seemed good to me

the owner is a kook, he talks shit behind the back about everyone in the scene and I won't say more than this.

[Kielwasser]

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Some of the shops featured in this are boutique shoe and clothing stores that happen to sell some skate hardware. That doesn't mean their gripes with the industry can't be valid, but they don't have all that much in common with what I presume most of us old heads on here think of when we picture a skate shop. I grew up hanging out at a shop where the owner would spend an hour hammering out your jacked up kingpin and give you a sticker for your trouble on the way out. While I understand that alone isn't a viable business model, it very much was (and still is!) what a scene needs. One particular shop mentioned in the article nowadays straight up tells customers to go to the other shop in our city when a customer comes in with any kind of hardware malfunction, even if it's just a jammed bearing. They aren't there to help you set up or maintain a skateboard, they are there to sell shoes and clothes. Nothing wrong with that per se, but don't claim to speak for skate shops if your business is trying to have as little to do with actual skateboards as possible.

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This is true for SHRN and Bonkers. Both mostly just use Skateboarding to sell limited edition clothing and to do sneaker drops. They are hypebeast shops. The owners of Bonkers don’t even skate.

This is reflected in their statements in this piece. They mostly complain about products not being exclusive enough. Most of their customers don’t skate.

Lol what is your problem with Shrn? They are the only ones hosting demo tours or doing any notable skate events, they are great hosts to visiting skaters/filmers and the owner is a legendary ex pro in Germany. They have a team and everything, I don't think they qualify as a Boutique. I've felt very welcome there

[one-off]

I guess I’m the only one relieved when the shop guy doesn’t want to talk to me

And we can agree that the goal isn’t

“Hi, I’m Buggy, I’ll be taking care of you today, is there anything you’d like to try on? Just let me know if you have any questions, and I’ll be happy to help!”

[tuesday]

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Some of the shops featured in this are boutique shoe and clothing stores that happen to sell some skate hardware. That doesn't mean their gripes with the industry can't be valid, but they don't have all that much in common with what I presume most of us old heads on here think of when we picture a skate shop. I grew up hanging out at a shop where the owner would spend an hour hammering out your jacked up kingpin and give you a sticker for your trouble on the way out. While I understand that alone isn't a viable business model, it very much was (and still is!) what a scene needs. One particular shop mentioned in the article nowadays straight up tells customers to go to the other shop in our city when a customer comes in with any kind of hardware malfunction, even if it's just a jammed bearing. They aren't there to help you set up or maintain a skateboard, they are there to sell shoes and clothes. Nothing wrong with that per se, but don't claim to speak for skate shops if your business is trying to have as little to do with actual skateboards as possible.

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This is true for SHRN and Bonkers. Both mostly just use Skateboarding to sell limited edition clothing and to do sneaker drops. They are hypebeast shops. The owners of Bonkers don’t even skate.

This is reflected in their statements in this piece. They mostly complain about products not being exclusive enough. Most of their customers don’t skate.

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Lol what is your problem with Shrn? They are the only ones hosting demo tours or doing any notable skate events, they are great hosts to visiting skaters/filmers and the owner is a legendary ex pro in Germany. They have a team and everything, I don't think they qualify as a Boutique. I've felt very welcome there

I don't really want to take a side here, but I feel this stupid bag available at soohotrightnow might be relevant for the discussion:





vs.





Guess which one is sold for ten times more than the other - 1.50€ vs. 14.90€.

[TheWineClub]

More like So Shit Right Now amirite?

[Jehoshaphat Augustus]

More like So Shit Right Now amirite?

I heard they originally were going to call the brand 'Finess'
fuckin $20 ikea bag is insane
the future is now

[TwisT]

I guess I’m the only one relieved when the shop guy doesn’t want to talk to me

And we can agree that the goal isn’t

“Hi, I’m Buggy, I’ll be taking care of you today, is there anything you’d like to try on? Just let me know if you have any questions, and I’ll be happy to help!”

Me when I walk into a skateshop


but seriously, I just need a hey, what's up, let me know if you need help, and maybe a heads if your doing a second task.

I feel the over-romanticized conversations about community and place from older skaters, have led people looking for that camaraderie to an unrealistic expectation of what the average skate shop experience is. It can be that place, but it takes time.

[scab]

^That's totally fair. What bugs me is shops that very clearly don't actually want to serve the basic purpose of a skate shop, i. e. sell, give advice on, and, if feasible, repair or tune up skateboarding gear. I don't need them to treat everyone like a close homie, but I do expect them to be able to tell a kid which deck might suit them. Preferably without being total dicks about it.

[somedudefromnj]

I think some of us are forgetting dude behind the register may just be an awkward skateboarder type

as mentioned before if theyre Gen z its even worse

the amount of videos online of them saying old people want the most are plenty. Meanwhile for us its just basic store welcoming