Introducing “Established”: What do skate shops mean to you?

Torey Pudwill: Skate shops are the fuel to skateboarding, they’re what feed the skate culture. Being a young skater growing up, a skate shop is your home base to really feel welcome. You can go there and get schooled on the history of skateboarding. The skate shop is made for skateboarders. Anyone who comes in is warmly welcomed.

CJ Collins: Well, they got everything: Boards, trucks, wheels — everything you need for a set up. If you’re someone that’s new to skateboarding, a skate shop is perfect to go get all your necessities.

Jiro Platt: I think skate shops are really important especially in smaller scenes because they hold the community together.

Jake Wooten: Skate shops are essential to communities for a lot of reasons, but I’d say the main one is the space they provide for kids that don’t have the best home environments. To have a hang out spot when you aren’t skating is really important.

Alessandro Sorgente: Skate shops are the heart of skateboarding. Nowadays everyone can just order stuff online, but I personally love going into a skate shop and picking out stuff firsthand.

Torey Pudwill: Skate shops were a place when I was young that I could go hang out and feel like I was somebody. They were a stepping - stone into feeling like skateboarding was my life. As I got older, I could just go and get anything I needed to skate. There’re no rules in there, yo u kind of get put in your place a little bit. It’s education, man. It was like a library, I could go in there and study. I could pick up a new video or mag and learn something. Just being able to try out all these different brands and develop different interests, the skate shop was the catalog for that. The support that the shops give to the skateboarders, their companies and careers, it goes such a long way. A skate shop with real skaters working there influence everyone who comes in.

CJ Collins: I think just in general, I always loved going into skate shops when I was a kid, and I still love going into them. When I was younger, shops gave me the mindset that I want to try my hardest to get sponsored by a shop and be in their ads [laughs].

Jiro Platt: I don’t really know how much of an impact my local skate shop has had on me but it’s great to know that I can go to Labor and have people I know there help me out. KCDC isn’t really my local, but they’ve had a big impact on me because they used to do these skate clinics for kids on weekends. I used to go there every weekend and skate and learn a lot, I met some good friends there too.

Jake Wooten: Without having my local shop growing up, I wouldn’t have had that valuable insight from the older skaters, I wouldn’t have had some of the coolest pro decks available to me, nor would I have been able to be as tight knit with my community as I am . Not to mention skate shop owners were the first people to ever have my back in skateboarding and allow me to enter some of these contests.

Alessandro Sorgente: The only way I got skate products growing up was from skate shops. I used to save up money and beg my parents for new boards and shoes when I went through stuff.

Torey Pudwill: You know, a lot of cool stuff goes down at skate shops. We’ve been able to premiere videos, have the community come together, we’ve done so many autograph signings and gotten to share experiences with so many locals in so many different areas. Those are unforgettable moments. I used to like to go into shops and ask the employees if I could go behind the counter and grip people’s boards and do fun stuff like that.

Torey Pudwill: I grew up with Skate Lab being my second home, I hung out in there everyday, it was so cool. I’ll never forget going into Surfin’ West in Simi Valley. Gabe Clement sold me my first skateboard. He became the rep for DVS and would kick me down a couple pairs of shoes a month. That support was the coolest thing to me. Later down the line, Gabe was the Team Manager for DVS, and I got on the team when I was fourteen and we traveled the world together. I got a once in a lifetime opportunity and it all started with buying my first skateboard. It’s so rad the relationship you can build with someone who works at a skate shop. They can become your best friend.

CJ Collins: I mean I only remember just sitting in them and staring at all the boards on the wall and wheels under the glass you know? Also, the dudes at the shop taught me how to set up a board.

Jiro Platt: I was in the advertisement for the KCDC Dunk which was a great opportunity and was really fun. Also, every time I walk my dog passed Labor she freaks out because she knows the people there will give her treats!

Jake Wooten: When I was eight years old, right when summer began, I broke my leg at t he local concrete park. Donny Myhre, a pro skater from the '90s for Zorlac was there and he owned Franklin Skateshop. Shortly thereafter, they started hooking me up with boards and discounted products at the shop and it really fueled my skating.

Alessandro Sorgente: When I was six years old my father took me to this skate shop back home in Boynton Beach, Florida called SkatesUSA. I begged for a skateboard for a while and he finally took me, so the first board I ever got was from a skate shop.

Torey Pudwill: I’ve always been around the Valley and all my friends skated for Val Surf. I never did, but I live near the one in North Hollywood and anytime I need something I go there. The reason I’m so hyped is because it was the first skate shop in history. The first ever skate shop and it still stands tall. That’s my local skate shop and I love to support them.

Torey Pudwill: Anywhere I’m at, I like to pop into the local shop, meet some new faces and make new friends. I have a pretty sick collection of skate shop T-shirts. Support your local skate shop.

CJ Collins: Yes! Pharmacy skate shop. Best in the biz! They’re always kind and helpful to everyone who walks in and they always have the goodies you need. Love y’all RX.

Jiro Platt: My go to shop is Labor because I live down the street, shout out James and all the employees for being the coolest helpful dudes. Shout out KCDC and Amy for giving me great opportunities and helping me learn to skate!

Jake Wooten: My go to shop out in Nashville is Sixth Avenue, and when I’m out in Oceanside, California I hit up Slappy’s Garage. Shout out Nathaniel from Sixth Avenue, Shut Up Donny from Franklin Skateshop, an d shout out Jona from Hazard County.

Alessandro Sorgente: Grind For Life! The YMCA Skatepark in West Palm Beach, Florida w here I grew up skating had the Grind For Life Skateshop there. I met Mike Rogers and he taught me a ton about skateboarding .