Retail Profiles: Skatelab, Simi Valley

kailee bradstreet

• April 07 2009
• 774 views
• add a comment

“30 Shops In 30 Days” is our way of keeping a close eye on what’s happening with retailers across the country. Over the course of a month, we’ll feature a new in-depth shop profile every day. Is your shop interested in being profiled? Contact us at business@transworld.net.

Skate Lab
4226 Valley Fair St.
Simi Valley, Calif. 93063
www.skatelab.com

Five years after Skatelab opened, the park put together an all-time accident report and the inevitable question came up. “Everyone was asking ‘who the hell is Torey Pudwill?’ says Skatelab owner Todd Huber. “Torey had 117 accidents – more than anyone else on there and he was only thirteen.”  Broken wrist, sprained ankle, and the list went on.

Pudwill is just one of the many pro skaters who have called Simi Valley’s Skatelab their home turf, and as Huber puts it “taken their lumps and learned how to fall and split their chin open” over the past 12 years. P-Rod and Mike Mo Capaldi, who also grew up skating at the 30,000-square-foot facility, still drop in regularly for contests and demos, or just to hang out.  According to Huber, it’s that type of atmosphere, combined with the shop’s selective skate-only product offering and dedication to keeping prices low, which has helped gain the loyalty of many Skatelab kids and customers, and generate continued success for the business.

“When kids come here, it could make or break their experience with skateboarding,” says Huber. “So what we do is, we bend over backwards. It’s good for me, but it’s also good for the industry because we are hooking a kid on the love of skating and I think there is a value there.”

Skatelab’s shop carries T-shirts and hats, with the bulk of the store’s inventory dedicated to skate hardgoods (65 percent) and footwear (25 percent). Huber says he considers his 1,000-square-foot retail space small, and because of this tends to avoid smaller manufacturers and only stock top-level brands. The shop’s biggest competition lies in big box retailers such as Zumiez, who have moved into nearby malls and carry a wider variety of product, Huber says. But Skatelab hasn’t seen a decline in business as a result.

“In 2007, we had five new stores open in town and that was our best year ever,” says Huber. “People will drive all the way across town to save five bucks and we have a real loyal following and customer base. We rule this area because people who skate want to go to a place where they only focus on skate. I like to think that people don’t want to be lumped in with a surf shop - skaters don’t like that.”

Huber considers footwear the single best-selling product category at the shop, with Lakai and DVS as standout brands. He plans to tighten his footwear program even more for 2009/10, limiting his display wall to top-performing brands and cutting SKUS.

Skatelab has continued to work closely with Podium Distribution and in turn the manufacturer has stepped up their support for the shop and the park, according to Huber. Seumas Santoro, Podium’s Central California sales rep, says that Podium and Skate Lab have a shared passion for skateboarding, which is successful for them both.

“No matter what it is, as long as it has to do with skateboarding you can count on Skatelab to be down to support it,” Santoro says. “At Podium we have always seen Skatelab as such a unique opportunity, because it’s not just a place to sell our brands. It’s a form of validation because it’s a destination to go skateboarding and in the end  that is both of our intentions - to keep people rolling on skateboards and smiling while they do it.”

While board sales also remain strong for the shop, with Girl skateboards ranking No. 1,  Skatelab has also gained attention for its apparel line, which it has licensed out to Macy’s, Target, JC Penney’s and most recently to Wal-Mart. The line, which consists of T-shirts and hats, will be available by summer for $7.50 each at 1,750 stores nationwide. Shorts, backpacks and other items are still in development.

Although the shop has proved it’s successful at a large-scale level, Skatelab has always drawn support from its close relationships with pros and other industry members who got their start through the shop and park, and stayed committed to its skate roots. It’s a huge source of pride for Huber, who says that he was stoked after reading a recent interview with Pudwill in which he gave Skatelab credit for helping launch his career.

“Things like that make me feel good. I’m pretty modest; I don’t want someone telling me I’m great, and I’m not looking for fame or the whole ego thing,” Huber says. “We have an energy for skateboarding when you come in here and you just feel it. If you come here and you are into skating you can thrive, too.”