What is Skate Shop Day?
Skate Shop Day is the day that the skateboard community celebrates our cultural hubs, the foundations of every skate scene, the places that bring skaters together and act as the glue for skateboarding as a whole. Skate Shop Day is meant to get skaters in to the shops to show love to the unsung heros that do so much for skating 365 days of the year. We support skateshops every day but we celebrate them on February 18th.
Who is behind
Skate Shop Day?
Two old friends who grew up 3,000 miles apart loving skateboarding and music and spending much of their formative youth dreaming of the world just past their town’s boarders thanks to the images were shared in the magazines found in their local shops, Surf Styles in Mission Viejo, CA and Ollie Pops, (Now called Pro Skateshop) in Howell, NJ. (Read Scotty’s story HERE.) Scotty Coats pursued a life dedicated to music while Chris Nieratko dedicated his to skateboarding, ultimately opening NJ Skateshop in 2003 with his two childhood friends, Steve Lenardo and Troy Jankowski.
The most beautiful part is there is a collective of skate shop owners from all over the world that help steer Skate Shop Day so that it can be as impactful and inspiring as possible.
Where is Skate Shop Day heading?
In 2020, Skate Shop Day was born. In 2021, SSD started to take shape thanks to our friends at Deluxe, who created a Real Skateboard and Spitfire Wheel with Sasha Barr’s SUPPORT art for domestic U.S. shop. In 2022, DLX offered to utilize their Sketchy Skateshop Appreciation Program as a Skateshop Day initiative, in turn creating our first truly global moment. Esteemed artist, Todd Francis, created hundreds of original individual shop graphics as well as one unifying rendition of the SUPPORT graphic for shops around the world. In 2023, Mike Gigliotti created his own take on the SUPPORT deck and most shops experienced greater sales than Black Friday.
In the years to come we envision the greatest brands in skateboarding making exclusive product for skaters that can only be found in core skate shops on Skate Shop Day to drive people into shops everywhere.
Why February?
Most of the world outside of California has actual winters and February is historically one of the deadest months for many of the skate shops that battle snowy weather. Skaters and skate shops are always looking for a reason to come together. We wanted to create a reason for skaters to hit the shops in the dead of winter and President’s Day never made sense for skaters or skate shops to celebrate. So we started our own thing. Christmas 2 we like to call it. Or Skate Christmas. Or simply Skateshop Shop Day.
How do I celebrate Skate Shop Day if I don’t have a skate shop near me?
It’s a wonderful time to be alive! The beauty of the now is we all have a skate shop in our pocket. Don’t have a shop near you? Go to the website of any skater-owned and operated skate shop on the planet and order a shop shirt and/or hat.
Why should I care about Skate Shop Day?
The beauty in picking up a useless wooden toy is that you become indoctrinated into something special, something unlike anything else. You start skating and you instantly have people. You can board a plane with nothing but your skateboard and find the skate shop in whatever town you land in and instantly you will find love. Chances are you’ll have a place to crash and a couch to rest on before night fall. That is not to be taken for granted. There are so many people who live and die alone. If you roll, you will never be alone. You belong to a global community, a secret society and meetings of the highest order always, ALWAYS go down at the skate shop.