I’m sad to have to report that Toxic Skate in Vancouver has closed it’s doors. I feel bad in part because I didn’t make it out there as often as I would have liked. That bowl was fun though, the big facing wall was a unique feature. Parts of it are destined to live on though. I hear the coping and masonite are already spoken for. Support your local shops while you still can! Thanks for giving it good run Mike.
27 comments
Toxic Mike
Thanks for the post ! I will return in the spring as an on-site shop at Pacific Comm. Park in Vancouver .
100% talkboarder @ work
will there be an online shop??
carl
That’s a good idea. Mike I can help get it going if you want some site help. I’ve known some guys that have gone the online route and been really successful.
Eric from Rockford
Prime example, do I thumbs up on the post, or do I thumbs down on how lame it is that a great local shop has to close? Not that I have been there, but it’s an indy shop with a bowl, and that is a rare and a very good thing.
colinwalshrules
seems that to succeed in this type of business one needs to offer skate lessons, or something else beside relying on poor skateboarders to buy product to keep it going. Wish I had the start up money for something like this, sorry to see something like this go, but at least you can say u did it, not many people can say they created a skateshop/skatepark.
carl
Try again with a dry ledge for me to skate and I’ll give you money every day. We locals tried to convey this early on. Good luck in the future.
thor
Thanks for giving it a go Mike. Glad to know we will still be able to find you at the Vancouver Park come spring.
K.C.
I’m giving that a big thumbs down.
Gnarles Copinghagen
I bought my last deck there and he gave me a good price. It was nice to have a local shop so that I wouldn’t have to go to Portland every time I needed something. Sad to see the shop go.
Toxic Mike
Yes i am going the on-line route and could use any help i could get, I am not going to let Toxic Die . M
Chad Balcom
Carl speaks truth
john e
okay, the thumbs are confusing me on this one. I like the post, but hate that the shop is closing. Which thumb do I hit? I was gonna go thumbs up, good post, then I saw everyone else hit thumbs down????
talentlessquitter
This is a pro-skateboard site.Everybody diagrees with the closedown of the shop! Hence the mute grabs..uuhr…thumbs down.
talentlessquitter
What’.. wrong with my ‘s’ button…..
K.C.
A dry ledge would not have kept Toxic open. You don’t make any money with an indoor park. People supporting/buying products at their local skate shop instead of going to the mall or Zumiez or whatever, will keep a shop going. Spend the extra couple bucks if you have to and shop local!
Rich
Yeah, what KC said: buy from your local shop.
Kilwag
One thing Toxic had going against it was the location. Way off the beaten path, no chance of walk in traffic. Very different in that respect to the Dept, which still didn’t have sidewalk traffic, but was much easier to get to, and centrally located.
Ripzu faces the same challenge but they are adjacent to that kids jumping place which gets lots of business, so parents can see it as an alternative drop off spot for their kids.
egbert
This is true. Location is key.
Toxic Mike
Thats true that location was not the best but it was the best option for building what i did .Not very many spots like that right out on a main street ya know. Believe it or not it was tough finding someone to rent to a Skate Shop to start with . Thanks guys
Toxic Mike
Amen K.C Thanks ! Fuck mall stores !
carl
You build the stuff people skate so that they come in, and hence become shop locals and hence buy products and build local shop pride.
This lesson is taught by the fact that DOS and Cal’s Pharmacy have had a pretty tight hold on shit what with the convenience and cultural significance that a indoor park/shop combo has.
This is business.. nothing personal. You gotta make something that skaters want to be a part of. You can’t make it what you want and try to convince them to buy into it.
christopher
Thumbs up!!!
bobcat
you cannot make money off of skateboarders.
you make money off the people who want to look like skateboarders.
DickCancerLives
Bobcat who wants to look like a dirt bag?
lou sassel
The problem with charging to skate something, is it has to be something people can’t skate for free. With all of the parks, a ledge, bowl or bank won’t pull kids in to pay to skate (with the exception of when it is raining. Even then there are a few private indoor bowls people can ride). Build an indoor vert ramp and you will get people for a while in the winter and then you will have an expensive (and empty) monthly warehouse payement for the rest of the year.
The days of a profitable skatepark are over. Unlike tennis clubs or other bullshit like that, skateboarders are not interested in being exclusive (except on TV).
Now for a local shop – by all means get your product there. Dont go to the mall for anything besides teenage girls or thier moms.
CCKEN
A local skateshop with a bowl that carries just some of the product I’m looking for , thumbs up and always worth a few bucks more! Well a good online shop with a rep. for fast shipping and ramp at the warehouse ,gets a thumbs up to Good luck Mike .
jaymeer
Might be stoked on some plywood & 2x4s etc.. If there is any left..