I don’t post much anymore, do I? Yeah, I’ve been kind of busy with the day job. And I really need to get a post done for Fortica Skateboards who sent me two decks all the way last year, but between snow, sickness, and injuries I haven’t been able to get out and skate the decks, which I really want to because they look awesome and feel good carpet boarding.
But what I wanted to comment on today is this whole recession thing, and if you think we’re coming out of it…well, we’ll see where we’re at a year from now. But a few years ago there was a big to-do in the skateboarding business world about shop decks and blank decks and how they were hurting sales of pro models, and how we should imagine a world without pros and how bad that would be. Now look, I love the pros as much as anyone. Those guys kill themselves to get where they are, and they deserve whatever they can get, and frankly, after years of riding blanks (I wasn’t buying them, I was getting them for free, and do you think I’m going to go spend $50 on a pro deck when I can ride a decent blank for $0?) I think there is something to be said for pro decks. I’m not sure if it’s worth $20 to everyone out there, but I think it might be worth it to me. But it’s hard to blame a kid who only has $30 for buying a blank instead of waiting another month to save up another $20 so he can get a pro deck. But that’s not my point here.
The point is that whatever damage might have been done to sales of pro decks due to competition from blanks has been compounded by the bad economy, and I’d be willing to wager the recession has done a lot more damage to pros than blanks ever did, because while there are blank decks and wheels that are decent, I’ve never seen decent blank trucks or shoes. This economy is hitting soft goods and well as hard goods, and that means there’s less money to go around for everybody from every source, not just smaller deck sales. But do we see pros giving up? Do we see pros not skating anymore? No, they’re killing it just as much as ever, and I’m starting to wonder if maybe they’re having even more fun than they were before.
What really gets me thinking is Circa and ExpeditionOne. Just a year ago you could have written off both of these companies. Sure, Circa’s shoes are no different than those from any other company, and ExpeditionOne’s decks are just as good as those from any other company, but we should all know by now that branding/marketing and team members are what sell skate products, and not so much quality, because the quality of everything is pretty much the same with minor exceptions. And when it came to those two factors, Circa and ExpeditionOne didn’t have bad branding/marketing, and they had some good riders–some dang good riders, in fact–but…well, they just didn’t seem to be on the same level with the other companies. But all of a sudden Gallant is off Plan B/DC and on Circa/ExpeditionOne. Now Matt Miller is on Expedition. Suddenly Expedition’s team is like…wow, that’s a really, really solid team. And Circa’s team is really, really solid too.
But why is this happening? Could it be that the recession has made skaters appreciate things other than money a bit more? Maybe pros are realizing life is too short to focus on cash flow, and they’re going where they feel like they can enjoy life the most. Not that there’s anything wrong with the corporate thing, maybe some skaters like that and that’s part of the fun for them. But maybe that’s not the right thing for other skaters who just want to skate and hang out with friends, rather than doing tons of demos, signings, travel, etc., and maybe it’s worth giving up the huge paycheck for a more relaxed lifestyle.
I’m not in the industry so I don’t really have a clue. But I think it’s worth asking whether money is all it’s cracked up to be in skateboarding. Maybe the recession will turn out the be the thing that keeps skateboarding real just a little bit longer.
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i was reading this and i started thinking about a Notorious B.I.G song. not sure if you listen to him but in this one song the chorus goes…
“I don’t know what they want from me
It’s like the more money we come across
The more problems we see”
the problem is if you want the money, then you gotta lose a bit of the fun.
want more money? lose more fun…i guess. unless you’re Rob Dyrdek, then in that case the question should be what kind of fun do you like have? or maybe Circa/Expedition One were offering more money with the benefit of having more fun than DC/Plan B but money is most certainly a factor especially for someone as good as Ryan Gallant.
i probably shouldn’t use the word fun but it’s all i can think of at the moment.
yeah your right Shawn if you want money you will lose a bit of fun. Because the number one factor is money. the recession has made skaters appreciate things rather than money.Thanks for sharing this thought to us. more power to your site God bless
Hi Joshua, yes I agree with your article. Although I am not a skater myself, but the recession did affected me one way or another. Times like these we just have to keep our passion on what we do. Focusing on the cash flow will definitely stress anybody, especially in our economic situation, so might as well play everything in balance. You can still focus on money without taking your eyes on having fun and vice versa.
I don’t think that not being to able to buy gear because of money loss can in any way be helpful to skateboarding.Lack of money is the main reason for stress and frustration.And that’s the last thing you need in any activity.
I’m the italian ramp builder, and i can say thtat the situation in italy is very difficult.
For the small companies is very hard stay on the business because the business in italy is very small, only big company as jart or shoes company resist.
The istitutions not invest in structures , only the privat..
i hope the recession stopped …
The thing is, not having much money means you’ll end up not being able to drive/bus/train it to any skatepark. This means you cant go as much, if your trucks or wheels are messed up, you cant buy new ones. I think it defintely has an affect, and a bad one at that!
The only good side would be that, you would street skate alot more if you wernt previously into it!
It seems to me that people are making their gear last longer and spending less in general. I dont see a huge selection of the pro decks that I used to see at my local skate shop.
I would think that the online guys are ok because they have everything in stock. When my local store doesnt have a deck that I want, I dont have a choice but to snag it online with some free shipping.
Hopefully all the big guys stay around and are doing well enough.
is the Recession Helping Skateboarding? This topic as two sides to it. first in the trems of skateboarders, as more and more bissneses go out of bisness, the thier will be more spots to skate. If know one is around to kick you out of you favorit spot.Also abanded places are often good places to skate. on the other hand i feel tyhat alot of skateboarding companys will be going out of bisness. Skateboarders dont make a lot of money so as time gopse on i feel that more and more companys will give up. intern this will alow for new companys to grow and change the sport.
It does force companies into some more generous promotional events.
Bones demo at Denver Skatepark – Colorado Springs Skateboarding Examiner
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-43491...
Friday, April 16th, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., the popular skateboard company known simply as “Bones” will be hosting a demo event at Denver Skatepark.
I don’t believe that the recession is helping skateboarding.
I believe skateboarding is helping the recession!
I agree with your idea, I never felt it
I as well agree…no problem here
Skateboard helping the recession! It does make it more enjoyable!
I have just started a new company in this market… and all I can say is that the recession has hit us hard!I am sick of buying foreign products. Keep the money in the states!! Support your local businesses. Support your local johnnyass!
Let’s think of the impact it would all make to all our neighborhoods if we decided to keep our spending within a fifty mile radius!
Maybe but would be great thing if skate price would drop, this really help.
I totally agree that the recession is helping skateboarding. People are going to skateboard but they don’t have a lot of money now, that is true, so that just means that they will have to work that much harder and successfully landing tricks without breaking their boards!
Recession helping skateboarding or skateboarding helping recession?
Who cares !??
all I care for is landing my tricks
It doesn’t really matter. If you love to skate then people will skate despite the recession.
skateboarding is not that expensive. You can always make your own board and ramps can be found anywhere so it isn’t a factor.
It kills me since i don’t have much money and everything is so expensive now. I had to stop skateboarding for a while.
My kid loves to skateboard and sometimes i just don’t enough money to buy all the gears needed so it really does play a big factor on us.
It’s no problem at all! skateboarding is never all that expensive like the other sports.
I defiantly think the internet is taking over from Mom and Pop shops. We have seen a huge reduction in local businesses.