Interview with Chris Nieratko by Marcus Waldron
What’s going on for Skate Shop Day this year 2023?
2023 is going to be Skate Shop Day’s biggest year. We try to grow it incrementally each year without getting too psyched and blowing it out. We’re partnering again with Deluxe and Mike Gigliotti (artist and former skate shop owner of Lotties) to release boards internationally, available anywhere Deluxe distributes around the globe. We’re also getting Russell Athletic t-shirts and hoods with Mike’s art into Canada, England, and Europe for the first time. So big moves for our fourth year. In addition to that, Igloo is making shop coolers for the United States, New Balance and Lakai are both doing rad Skate Shop Day shoes and Emerica and és are revisiting classic shoes from the early 2000’s for their Skate Shop Say shoes with the Emeica OG1 & eS’ One Nine 7. JBL is doing speakers for the shops, there are Socco Skate Shop Day socks and Legacy beanies. We’ve got so much rad stuff and honestly, we’re just getting started. I trip out on where this thing’s gonna be in five, or ten years from now, or in a hundred years from now.
I’m sure you’ve talked about it a lot before, but just quickly how did this whole thing start?
I’m gonna give you the exclusive on a little story that I don’t usually tell people. My homeboy, Scotty Coats, who’s a lifelong skater and comes from the record industry, was on the ground floor with Record Store Day and came up with the idea of Skate Shop Day. He hit me up and was like, “Yo, we should do this,” and I’ll be honest, man, I couldn’t wrap my head around it. I just couldn’t see it. Then one day I was in a meeting there was a dude who says, “Fuck skate shops”. He was trying to get a product into shops and was like, “If they’re not into it, then fuck skate shops.” And I was the only cat in the meeting that owned a skate shop, and I was like, “Yo, what?!” I pulled the e-brake. I was like, “You can’t say fuck skate shops. What are you talking about?” Without skate shops, shit is pretty lame. How about fuck you?!” There was no way I can stand by and let anyone, anywhere say fuck skate shops. And so that’s when Scotty’s idea really set in for me, that there were people in our own industry that don’t grasp the importance of skateshops. I was like, “Scotty, if we don’t do Skate Shop Day, maybe not now, maybe not tomorrow, but at some point, this industry might forget how essential skate shops are to our culture.” That first dose of someone saying fuck skate shops to me woke my ass up that we had to do this. If you don’t honor your history, you’re doomed to forget it. I grew up working in skate shops, wherever I’ve traveled around the world, I stopped in skate shops to get their shirt that; was my tourist shirt. I didn’t get like the local Harley Davidson shirt and I didn’t get the Eiffel Tower shirt. I would get, you know, a shirt from Subsect when I’m in Boise. That’s how I knew I was in Boise at some point. Skateboarding has changed over the years and it has gotten super digital and in doing so, I don’t ever want anybody to forget the camaraderie and the community that skate shops cultivate. It’s super important.
What’s up with the collective of skate shops that make this all possible?
During Covid when you couldn’t get wood, there was a small group of shopkeepers in the States that got together just for strength in numbers and buying power. I think it was like 20 of us, and we made a board from Sasha Barr’s artwork that said, “Support your local skate shop”. That was the first time we’d come together in that way. And then that same graphic we used again through Deluxe, once things started to chill out during Covid, and you could actually get wood made. But this thing has grown leaps and bounds in four short years. The 10 year plan that we had for this thing was achieved last year, and that’s really thanks to Deluxe and Jim Thiebaud believing in it. Jim saw what it was straight away and said, “Dude, anything that helps skate shops, I’m down for.” And the reality is on the East Coast, February sucks, and if there’s no indoors, and Jersey doesn’t have any, it extra sucks. So it’s a hard time for skate shops that have actual seasons. For those shops, it was important to help make the register ring. And after skate Shop day 2022, we polled about 300 skate shops around the globe and every single one of them told us that they did better on Skate Shop Day than they did on the previous Black Friday. It’s a healthy day for business for shops, but it’s also a healthy day for skaters to feel connected, pop in the shop, bring some donuts, bring a six pack, bring pizza, whatever, bring a hug and just thank someone for running their local shop. Sales aside, it’s about bringing people together and giving ’em something to rally around, especially in the dead of winter. It’s nice to just see your friends when it’s brick as fuck outside.
How long have you owned a skate shop, how did it start, and how has it been?
I’m part owner of NJ Skate Shop with my best friend Steve Lenardo, and we are celebrating our 20th anniversary all throughout 2023. We have 20 insane collaborations scheduled throughout our 20th year. We are all super excited for that and for all the brands that have shown love and are down to get down. How it came to be was, Steve and I grew up skating together before he moved from Jersey City down to Sayreville. I was in California when we found out that Sayreville was gonna get one of Jersey’s first better cement parks. The park was set to open in September 2003. We knew that if we didn’t come together and open the shop probably somebody’s parent that just saw dollar signs would open a shop and it would probably be pretty wack and short-lived, maybe not really dedicated to skateboarding, but dedicated to what little Johnny liked that week. So we opened NJ Skate Shop in Sayreville in July of 2003, and the skate park opened in September of 2003. Honestly, man, we’ve had ups and downs, we’ve had as many as four stores, and we’re at two stores now. It’s been a crazy ride just watching skateboarding these last two decades, but Steve and I are just super thankful and very humbled by all the support we’ve gotten in the last two decades. And most importantly, just seeing all the little shrimps over the last 20 years grow into adult men and women with kids of their own kids that are starting to skate as shrimps. We just attended a wedding for a friend that’s been with us forever and all the groomsmen were NJ family that have been down for the shop for more than a decade, Just seeing these people grow up and crush it in life has really been the biggest reward for Steve and me.
What is the best way for people to get involved with or participate in Skate Shop Day this year or in general?
We always say every day is skate shop day, so try and show love to the shops and the shop owners all year round. But it doesn’t require money to show love, even on Skate Shop Day. If you back a shop, just tag a shop in a post, let ’em know that you appreciate what they do, spread the word, tell other people to support that shop, and if you’ve got the money, go buy a shop shirt or whatever. Shop product is the best way to support that local shop, it reps them, and it’s the best margin for them, and if you’re one of those kids that cares about limited shit, there’s nothing more limited than shop gear. If you like other shops around the country, order some of their shit. But again, it doesn’t take dough just to tag somebody, or show a shop some love and let ’em know they mean something to you.
