Boo.
That sucks.
Damn. 
Won’t be the last. Nobody really seems to need skate shops any more. May as well just buy direct from the distributor it all feels quite pointless.
Not trying to throw anyone under the bus because I’ve done it too; Browsing the shoes thread I read so many people asking how NBs size and I’m thinking “Are you ordering everything online or actually supporting a skateshop by going in snd actually trying on a pair to find out?”
I didnt post this before because I didnt want to suffer the cyber bullying but your comment kind of validates my observation. I’ve ordered shoes online too so not trying to throw blame anout. Just a sign of the times.
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This.
I order online because the closest proper skateshop doesn’t stock UK7 in Adidas, and I know the exact shoe I want.
The nearest shop is Slam I think, which is central London. Bored in Portsmouth.
There’s a Route One in Oxford again, they don’t sell anything I even want to try on before I buy.
Maybe Helas
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Really sad to see another shop go.
I don’t really need much these days, but whenever I do, I make sure to order it from Decimal online or take the trip to Cirencester with my kids to go in and see Gaz/Sal/Oscar.
We’ve got a few things in the works for the shop’s 20 year anniversary this year, which should be fun!
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Same here. I’ve made no secret of that, ha!
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Yer brother, so have @nav and I
That’s everyone.
The thing is, what’s the point in the distributor shipping boxes of product to shops who simply ship those boxes onwards? We might receive a pair of shoes, pay the distributor’s price, then send those shoes out and have them returned, send them out again or in occasional very rare circumstances actually sell a pair in-store. After staff wages, rent, rates, tax there’s no profit left.
The brand or the distributor is probably selling direct ayway, and selling cheaper.
Small brands and influencers who create their own product are selling direct and engaging better with their customers.
Massive overstock of out dated product is still filling warehouses and being punted out through eBay and online.
Everyone’s skint. Nobody hangs out in the shop because you increasingly can’t skate in city centres anyway.
What’s the point? I don’t think there can be many non-warehouse/chain skate shops that will last more than a couple of years. There are some doing a good job of staying relevant like Welcome and Note but those are the exception and it’s a lot of work for very little reward.
RIP Brixton’s Baddest it had a lot of personality and people will miss it when it’s gone.
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Around Christmas the local park started stocking small bits like a couple of pairs of trucks, bolts, wheels, bearings etc. Long story short one young lad ordered bearings online rather than buying them from the park - where he was skating nearly every day.
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When was the last time we bought anything irl?
Other than buying food, the only shops I regularly visit might be Boots or Holland&Barrett. Maybe Uniqlo for socks. Argos to collect something I ordered online anyway. If I’m buying something electronic I might pop in to John Lewis to have a look at it, that’s about it.
I always order skate stuff from actual skate shops, but I probably haven’t been inside one in ten years.
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Every time I go to a city I go the to Skater Owned Shop. It’s like an urge I have to fulfil.
Just to buy a shop tee.
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This is the way. Always has been.
You get to discover a rad new shop, maybe chat with rad new people, or people you’ve heard about but never met, or people you’ve seen at a thing but never spoken to.
At the very least, you get to wander around a shop feeling cool while the young person behind the counter wonders who the grey-haired man is with the scuffed shoes
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My Mrs is French doesn’t skate has no clue etc etc – but she gets why I want to go.
But went Liverpool took her to LA, London Slam, Bristol 50-50, Portsmouth Bored etc.
It’s nice because she likes the shop tees I grab and rocks them as well.
Luckily have people who can hook a few bits up so most of the stuff I get isnt full price thankfully. I try my best but also have to be realistic – like I’m not turning down a £20 pair of shoes because I can’t walk into the shop physically.
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Same. I love buying shop t’s. My lass knows that going into a skate shop means I’m going to spend at least half an hour talking bollocks to someone I haven’t seen in years or just talking about the good old days 
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My local SOS has some serious ethical principles whereby he wont stock anything corporate meaning Nike, Adidas, Converse and probably NB.
Sometimes I think he’s doing himself a disservice but I actually respect a person that has morals. Whilst other shops got fucked by nike et al, he’s stayed afloat +30 years. He’s very careful financially and always seeking to help the local scene but it isnt easy especially these days.
Old age is making me hate technology or the way tech encroaches everything these days. I’ll never beat it but I do try and hold back or avoid it more and more.
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I feel this about skating, instagram ruined it.
Random internet board companies, no gate keeping for ‘standards’ in terms of whats good or not. So quad flip man is legit now.
Loads of shit like that, without a proper shop in Oxford it seems the scene is very scattered, no one really skating together apart from a few pockets of people and they sometimes collide. I see people skating Route One boards in Oxford – which to me is fucking wild.
Maybe I’m just a Michael Fabricant.
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There’s the principle but there’s also the business model…Nike, adidas require minimum order sizes and smaller shops can’t shift the volume required. Vans have recently softened their stance on that and allow smaller orders, NB are cool like that too.
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The good kind of Michael Fabricant.
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Yer, I remember before like a Carhartt minimum was £5k a season or some thing, which is mad if you are a small store.
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