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It is that Time Again! Contract to Go Forward

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gilesyboy
Posted: Fri May 11, 2018 7:24 am Reply with quote
Joined: 13 Jun 2010 Posts: 187 Location: uk
Some of us have been doing this for 30 years, some 40 years. We have seen most things atleast twice and understand the cyclical nature of our industry's economic cycles.

Shops are closing. Kids are being turned off skateboarding. Probably because they are fed up of seeing their Dads tik-taking on a 10 inch wide board wearing a Bones Brigade T shirt whilst worrying if they will smudge their graphics. Companies are selling more re-issue boards to old men who shove them in closets and garages than boards to kids to thrash up in a park.

I am beginning to not like some aspects of the main-stream industry.

Boutique skateboards, Supreme for example, they make a bog standard $10 board put something retro on it like Public Enemy or Hellraiser and sell it for $120. When I see Supreme selling a Martin Luther King Hoodie for $200(a man who stood up for socialist, anti-poverty values) i just find it wrong on every level.

Then there are the designers. Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Givenchy, Kenzo, Stella McCartney, Christian Louboutin. They have all tried to put their crap on a deck and sell it for inflated dollars. Some of our best brands have even endorsed this behavior.

Then there are the artists: Damien Hurst, Andy Warhol, Jules De Ballincourt, Keith Haring etc. we do not need them. We have VCJ, Jim Phillips, Marc Mckee and Evan Hecox to name a few who have used the deck as their primary canvas.

Then there are the collaborations. In the last week alone I have seen Mars Attacks (SC/NHS), Sesame Street (Globe), TMNT (SC/NHS) and Garfield (Hundreds). Most of these collaborations you need to be over 40 to recall the brand. Again more examples of old men sucking every ounce of money out of a contracting market.

Whilst this is going on, long term independent shops are closing, local skate scenes are dying and parks are closing. That does not matter because I can walk around in a garfield Hundreds t shirt holding a sesame street globe cruiser and hang my f**kin Supreme Michael Jackson skateboard on my wall.

Yet Newton taught us every action results in an opposite reaction. The phoenix will rise again, the youth and underground is always there. We have to retract to go forward. Kill the cruiser, lets stop buying re-issues and pre-issues and force the companies to innovate. Not through crappy retro collaborations but through being on the degenerate margins of society. lets get back on the wrong tracks where things are more interesting. Lets get back to the streets.
Friday Morning Rant Over.

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zeno01
Posted: Fri May 11, 2018 8:03 am Reply with quote
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Joined: 12 Jan 2007 Posts: 5841 Location: Fargo, ND
Amen.

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slavadov
Posted: Fri May 11, 2018 8:26 am Reply with quote
Joined: 02 Nov 2008 Posts: 3192 Location: Michigan
I've heard that the current climate feels a lot like the late 1980s... everything got so oversaturated, so quickly, that it turned off a lot of skaters that valued authenticity over sheer skill. I've opined on the topic over at my blog a little, but I'm mostly just a knob that uses my blog to spew forth drivel and nonsense.

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EastCoastBP
Posted: Fri May 11, 2018 8:48 am Reply with quote
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Joined: 16 Nov 2010 Posts: 2638 Location: Atlanta
I think most brick and mortar shops are closing because of the online shopping phenomena as opposed to skating dying off. I order all my stuff online now and only occasionally make it to the brick and mortar skate shop- this is happening across all industries. Additionally, you will see more hoodies, shirts, lifestyle wear, and shoes at shops than decks/parts. Still plenty of kids out there skating it up- they just have a different culture than us old guys, none of them are buying up these nostalgia colab decks and they aren't marketed to that crowd anyway. When was the last time you saw a kid (or anyone for that matter) rocking their Garbage Pail Kids deck at the park or on the street. There is still innovation out there- electric decks, new cruiser designs, new materials being used (Powell Ligament and Flight decks...), and new "cool" companies us old guys have never heard of. Just not a lot of new stuff for us old folks other than nostalgia decks. Times change, tricks change, skateboard collectors tend to stay the same...now get off my lawn!!!
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slob-air
Posted: Fri May 11, 2018 10:04 am Reply with quote
Site Admin Joined: 27 Oct 2001 Posts: 63453 Location: S&B HQ
We've been here before. More than a few times. Though some of that mentioned is just stupid bullshit.

Stores are closing everywhere as consumers shift to big box stores and online stores. Not just skateboards, but every industry. We decide that with our shopping habits—so we can't blame the big box stores or the online shops. Its our fault.

The new element is brands selling online themselves—that cut in on the brick and mortar shops. But again, we the consumers decide with our purchasing habits.

I haven't been in a brick and mortar shop in years as they generally all suck balls, don't have what I want and sell clothes more than hard goods.

And as I mentioned, this isn't just happening in skateboarding, but every industry and we made it happen.

I'm seriously considering closing down the retail online arm of speed-dealer.ca /.com and focusing more on distribution and just doing retail out of the back of the jeep when I get back out hitting the parks regular. I also allow the ever growing squad of "bros" come by and check out and purchase gear out of my home office.

Its a weird new world—adapt or don't, jump onboard or be left behind.

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