Top Seller: Sanction Skate and Snow, Toronto and Waterloo

kailee bradstreet

September 08 2009
824 views
7 comments

Sanction Skate and Snow
Locations:
330 Steles Ave W Toronto, ON
AND 160 University Ave W Waterloo, ON

Sanction Skate and Snow, formerly known as Boardzone, has been a key action sports retailer in Toronto and Waterloo for the past sixteen years and is one of the oldest shops in the city. Two years ago, long-time managers Ryan McDonough and Charles Javier took over for the previous owners and changed the name to Sanction, but the look and feel of the store remains the same, according to co-owner Malcolm Vaughan. The three new owners have seen a spike in sales, with skate hardgoods sales up twenty percent, and will soon be launching a completely revamped Web site, complete with an online store. Vaughan says Sanction is up against competition from mall-based stores such as West 49 and several other smaller skate shops spread out across the city, but that hasn’t slowed sales down. During the weeks leading up to back-to-school, Vaughan said snow product has been one of the strongest categories for the 4,000-square-foot, two-story shop: “The big numbers have come with people starting to buy snowboards - we sold 10 complete sets ups this weekend alone.” Vaughan outlined what else has been selling at Sanction over the past few months:

CATEGORIES

1. Skate Hardgoods
The shop has a wall stocked with 100 to 130 boards at all times and carry all major skate brands and a few small up and coming companies, such as Love Skateboards, a start-up out of Waterloo, Ontario, that Sanction will feature on its newly revamped Web site. “Hardgoods and shoes for us are our bread and butter in the summer,” Vaughan says. “Next year we are going to try to grow our hardgood section; even though we are competing with big box stores, it still helps keep us going and pay our bills.”

Brand: Real Skateboards
While Deathwish and DGK have been moving well for the shop, Real Skateboards has emerged as the best selling brand at Sanction over the summer.

SKU: Gangster Nightmare
“The new series, Gangster Nightmare, with hip hop lyrics, Leatherface, Chucky and Chainsaw Massacre – that one has done really well for us,” says Vaughan.

Real Skateboards "Gangster Nighmare" series

2. Footwear
The shop has traditionally been known for its large selection of shoes, but lately they have expanded their inventory. “We’ve had a bigger shoes wall than we’ve usually had, and the last couple of weeks have been really busy for us,” Vaughan says. “We kind of pride ourselves in having a huge, up-to-date shoe wall.”

Brand: Vans
While Vans has by far outperformed the others this year, Sanction also gave honorable mention to Supra and Emerica.

SKU: Chukka Low
The Chukka Low has been holding strong at shop for the last few years, followed closely by the Vans Half Cabs.

Vans Chukka Low

3. Apparel
The entire top floor of Sanction is reserved for this category and Vaughan says that over fifty percent of the shops inventory is dedicated to apparel. The shop recently introduced Comune apparel and says the new brand has been fairing well.

Brand: Matix and Altamont
Vaughan says he would have a hard time deciding between Matix and Altamont as a top brand at the shop.

SKU: Asher Hoodie
Sanction was one of the shops in Eastern Canada that had exclusivity rights to sell the Mike Mo version of this particular hoodie, and according to Vaughan, the shop started with more than thirty and now only have one left.