Well that’s what to expect from people who have nothing to do with skating. We tend to look after our own and who knows , those SOS never had the chance to see if they would survive through the later slump. They could have made it because of local loyal support which R1 lacked .
You raised it as though it was. Apologies if I misinterpreted.
Sorry mate, that’s just naive. If your business has growth potential you go where there is a clearly defined market.
Not that any of the distros were complaining, UK skateboarding was kept afloat by the buying power and reach of companies like Route One.
Look, don’t get me wrong, I spend money in SOSs and in an ideal world there would be room for everyone. But a lot of towns didn’t have skateshops and R1 took advantage of that during the late 90’s/early internet boom. They were just a lot better at seizing opportunities than most and grew the business accordingly.
In terms of lower end decks, is there any benefits or differences over the following brands which all seem to be in the same price brackts? Enuff, Fracture and mini logo
Are you getting the decks, trucks etc. separately? You can get a Death Skateboards deck for about £40 and that wouldn’t be low end at all. I’ve got a feeling that Mini Logo decks are made of birch rather than maple.
Currently I’m very tempted to just buy the below from Blacksheep as with a discount code I can get it all for about £47 which would come with the following
Enuff Classic Skateboard Deck Black 8.25"
Black Sheep 52mm White 100A Urethane Wheel set of Four
Pair of Enuff Covert Trucks 5.5"
8 x Enuff Abec 7 precision skateboard bearings
1 x Enuff Perforated quality Griptape and 8x 1" bolts
Tbh I’d buy from legacy. Ron here on the forum is OG, knows his shit and lives skateboarding more than anything. But that’s just my opinion.
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I’d like to but the Death and Cliche ones Ron recommended only seem to be in 7.75" etc.
Seems a bit ironic how much this forum shits on R1’s business tactics while it simultaneously has a massive boner for Nike shoes who pretty much decimated the skate shoe industry through similar tactics, along with holding a lot of these SOS’s you’re defending to ransom for tens of thousands of pounds worth of crap shoes
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Highjacking this thread a bit, but, is the main issue with Route One mainly regarding the appearance of physical stores in places that already had local skate shops, in the 00’s, which then went under because of R1 taking the business?
Was the mail-order aspect not an issue? I’m sure that did similar in reducing footfall in local shops and yet Rollersnakes/HSC and others regularly in the centre spread of Sidewalk didn’t seem to get as much stick at the time, for doing similar?
Wait, R1 made homophobic tees?
and this is how their employees reply, wow, just wow…
The thing is, the way people have been doing business is pretty cunty and it shouldn’t be applauded as good business. Good business is not making money and shitting on others. That’s just cunty greed. Business needs to change, t’s been too long that people think that they have to be all apprentice style to get ahead. The way Tesco has been doing business and seeing all the cracks in our infrastructure appear because business is actually very flimsily run especially larger companies should serve as a lesson we can learn from.
So, Wally, no disrespect to you but you are actually defending bad business and shady practices.
No, Route One didn’t make homophobic tees, Build was just making a random example of a tacky phrase.
And what’s wrong with money in the bank? Can you pay wages with cool now? That’d be a genuine “wow, just wow” scenario.
Understanding where you have an established market for your services and adding bricks and mortar there (back when bricks and mortar was viable) isn’t in anyway shady, it’s common sense.
knowing that there is a business catering for the small market already and aim to take their business is shady, of course not in most “business” people’s minds but it does not make it right.
It would have been better to set up shop in a decent sized town that does not have a shop so they can take advantage of that whole area’s potential.
I get that this is “naive” in the old ethos, but like I said, business is has been crooked and warped for too long.
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Route One, for better or worse, sold a lot more than just skateboards. If ‘insert town name here’ was providing a large amount of mail order sales then the shop in that town was already not fulfilling potential customers needs, be that rollerblades, naff tee shirts or whatever.
Even at its high street peak Route One had no more than 15 shops nationwide. It chose to enter the towns it did because there was a viable need for its business in those towns. Route One didn’t set up shops just to be vindictive, it did so because customers in that area wanted the goods Route One offered.
That’s not warped, crooked or anything else negative. Its entrepreneurial and, given the pay/staff perks/money put back into skateboarding, is far from the worst example of capitalism you’ll find.
I know that you personally run your shop like a decent skate hub and helped locals, but why are there so many stories about shadiness then? Can’t all be bitter sos owners and heresay.
I personally have never bought anything from Route one but i’m not exactly a spender anyway so that’s not nothing heroic, just never got a good vibe from the setup.
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Now you’re just talking bullshit, they targeted towns with a proven history of skate culture, with the aim to close down any competition. That is not fucking capitalism, it’s a monopoly.
Monopolies are illegal if they are established or maintained through improper conduct, such as exclusionary or predatory acts.
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That’s simply not true mate.
Yes it is.
