Whether one company or more do it, does not make it right.
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Absofuckinglutely.
Do Nike and adidas support skateparks and local associations in the UK? Do they support the scene in any particular way?
I personally don’t know so I don’t bash them regardless, they must support by other means. They support riders and do events but still, they have crazy money to do that so it’s less impressive if it’s nothing to them. The cornering of markets and treatment of stockists is shitty. I guess people are easily bought.
I’m not sticking up for Nike here but what shoe companies are purely skater owned now? As there can’t be many left and what they doing that is helping the scene week in, week out?
Not many if any.
I think there is a difference between doing absolutely nothing and helping the scene week in, week out.
Vans seem to be supporting a lot of parks and organize a fair amount of events in a lot of places. Not saying they’re not as corporate as Nike or adidas in any way, but I do see their support.
Lakai used to help the scene here but I suppose it’s fair to say they’re dead.
Sole Tech used to support parks a lot here but it seems like this might change.
Cool. So I guess the question these days is, if there are no real skate shoe companies left, what are the coolest to deal with when you’re an sos and why? Then back that so other companies hopefully follow suit?
I wonder why there are not any skater owned shoe companies? It might be down to faults of their own and product and whatever else but i think there is a glaring reason down to other brands finally winning over skateboarders and flooding the industry.
Skater owned or not, people make their own choices, I have no allegiance to sole tech or their owners, I purely bought with my feet and what they needed to make their connection to the board feel the best, so I bought a certain style of shoe, for forever.
Jamie Thomas has several.
Is Hours skater owned? I expect backed by non-skaters but I know nothing.
Companies that make good shoes and do not try too hard to flood your shop with shoes that won’t sell? Companies that give back to the community (no, sponsoring skaters isn’t helping the scene, it’s buying advertisement and street cred)?
I think it’s Bryan Herman’s company but I could be wrong. Pretty sure somebody else is behind it too but I don’t know who off the top of my head.
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Yeah, I always forget about Last Resort for some reason too. I’m not into their shoes though unfortunately. That’s not to say I won’t like something in the future.
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Sweet. Wouldn’t mind seeing the black Dilos in the flesh and Hermans on a cup…
Very sad to see another SOS go. I always used to enjoy visiting Rob and the crew. I remember they had a little mini ramp downstairs at one stage.
I’m not sure why the Nike SB debate (it’s 2025 guys!) had popped up again.
I’m sure there’s hundreds of reasons why an independent business decides it’s time to call it a day, but no one is forced at gunpoint to buy the sports brands shoes.
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Yeah, I’ve heard of a few sos shops making just one or two sales a week over the Christmas period. It feels like there is a whole lost generation around here too (maybe two). The kids are now adults and no group of youngsters started to replace them.
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Ive still got a load of consolidated dont do it stickers im desperate to use!
Not sure how much of an effect those stickers will have on Nike’s skateboard GTM strategy to be honest, but you do you!
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No. Thats why they’re still in a shoe box under my bed 20 years later.
Maybe if i stuck them on a bench in town back then the world wide skate shoe business would look totally different.
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Think about the discussion in which the Nike issue has been raised. This is a bit more than ‘I don’t like the corporate shoe brand’.
Nike have placed huge financial pressures on certain skate shops in the last year as they (Nike) have tried to milk the last of the Dunk hype. They have not thought about the businesses’ best interests or the wider economic downturn. And, if you have a Nike account, you are forced to take on more stock than you can reasonably shift. It’s absolute bull shit.
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