Retail Profiles: Snowboard Connection

mike lewis

• June 22 2009
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Snowboard Connection Owners John Logic and Adam Gerken.

Snowboard Connection is one of the most iconic shops in the Northwest, and Co-owner John Logic has had a hand in shaping the region and the sports’ scene since the beginning. One of the biggest things that sets his three shops apart is its feel, which comes in part from the original artwork that hangs the shop’s walls. Much of the art is the fruit of collaborations with Sno Con’s vendor partners. We caught up with Logic to find out more about these projects.

What companies have you done art shows with and why are these important for you?

We’ve done art shows with Quik, RVCA, Volcom, Burton, and Vans, and no two were alike.

For Burton we had Blotto’s first ever gallery show. We took everything off the walls, hung white sheets, and presented his awesome photos with no distraction. Our rep, Sasha, was instrumental in making that happen. He went the extra effort to print T-shirts for the night. For Volcom, the reps organized their friends to produce pieces, and Jamie Lynn brought his collection, and we asked a dozen artists to paint skateboards that were sold for a kids charity. For RVCA, a wizard in marketing, [they] got three of their artists to arrive at our shop on the same day, and we affixed a canvas of three masonite sheets on the wall. These three guys who had never painted together did a collaboration over the next 24 hours. Our rep Jasen drove it to California, and RVCA put it on the cover of their catalog.  It hangs in our store now. Vans has been super-generous. They sent Greg ‘P-Nut’ Galinsky up to paint some walls. When we moved, we took the wall with us! And they work with an artist named Blaine Fontana, who happened to be moving back to Seattle. He came in, made some measurements, and returned with a custom oil painting, 20′x4′. It’s an icon in the store. You have to look really hard to find the name ‘Vans’ on it. This had no rep involvement.

Our OBEY rep is mounting a custom piece onto a pillar in the store. We can’t drill into the cement so he came up with a clever way of wrapping the pillar with wood. Again, the rep played a critical role in making this happen.

Why have these been helpful?

Well, for the obvious reason of having an excuse to party and dance - that’s a way for customers to get something back from us. It also lets the artist sell their work, and maybe to someone that wouldn’t normally see it in a gallery. The more subtle gain is that as people cruise through the store, they see product and art, and nothing else. We don’t like most POP from the vendors, and whether people realize it or not, they are seeing absolutely unique, original artwork. When we all have the same brands, we have to distinguish ourselves however we can; art and a great staff are two ways to do that.