Want to know how the skateboarding business works from the ground up? Ask Eastern Skateboard Supply’s Reggie Barnes. He has seen the skateboard business from pretty much every angle including, pro skater, shop owner, skatepark owner, distributor, and now with Birdhouse, a manufacturer. Surf Expo’s Sean O’Brien interviewed Barnes and you should probably read it now. Click the link.
[Link: Surf Expo via Skate and Annoy]
It’s not easy opening a business in the skateboard industry, especially when your focus is on Longboarding. This is an old post, but felt it needed to be said. Eastern Skate Supply was the first company I sought out to stock my business. Their own sales staff stated they had no knowledge of the longboard industry but have started carrying some products. If you are a shop owner, you know the profit margin is narrow. Your not doing it to get rich. I’ve placed a couple of orders with ESS but we had a run in which resulted in some of the rudest behavior by two of Reggie Barnes employees in sales and managment. You can imagine disclosing my name and business would be risky as I need suppliers to stock my store. Sad thing is, his staff only knows about the short board industry and have horrible management practices. Someone in the industry gave me some great advice. Go straight to the source instead of through a distributor like Eastern Skate Supply. They know their products and usually are willing to work direct. Reggie Barnes … you have some very rude employees and management and I hope to be able to supply my store with its needs without generating more sales for you. Secondly, word of mouth is the best advertising, and I’m learning quickly that suppliers aren’t fond of the way your business is run. Your employees were so rude, the only thing I can think of to undo the damage would be to fire a salesperson and a manager. I sure hope youre not headed the same direction as Boarders Paradise.
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