Your local skate shop is always the best store for skateboarders. It’s our local haven. In this day and age, it seems the possibilities are endless as far as places you can go to pick up a skateboard. It’s true, too. You don’t even need to leave the comfort of your own home to buy that skateboard you’ve been dreaming about. With the soaring popularity of skateboarding, it seems everybody wants a piece of the pie. Skateboarding is even being featured in the 2020 Olympics!

Whether it’s Amazon, Walmart, etc, these giant companies will happily sell you a skateboard without thinking twice…The same way they’d sell you a bicycle, scooter, or gaming console without thinking twice. These big box stores don’t really care about quality, because they’re not making the products. What you’re buying doesn’t really matter, as long as you are buying something.

How Do The Local Skate Shops affect the skateboarding community?

With the immense success of these huge businesses, what will happen to local skate shops in your community? That’s a great question.

Unfortunately, without your support, these small local skate shops simply cannot survive. How are they to compete with big-box stores that can handle huge amounts of inventory and offer products at a competitive price?

The fact remains that these huge corporations could care less whether you’re buying a hockey stick, a basketball, or a skateboard. They are in the business of selling sporting goods (and everything else) to the masses.

While our mission is to push skateboarding all over the world, we certainly don’t want “Big-Business” pushing it for us! They are pushing for a profit, not for progress. But, we believe the first step to promoting skateboarding worldwide is to help skateboarding grow in your community.

Helping Your Local Skateboarding Scene

You can help skateboarding grow in your community in many different ways. Perhaps the most simple and effective method would be to visit your nearest local skate shop and purchase all of your skateboard equipment there.

These local skate shops are often created by skateboarders and like to offer smaller brands that are higher quality. For instance, you won’t find Revive Skateboards in Walmart, or Force Wheels in Target. But, many skate shops are offering these brands across the United States.

The money that goes into these shops often pays for the merchandise, the employee wages, and keeping the shop afloat. But, these local skate shops will often give back to the community. They will host skateboarding events, demos, and competitions. If your local skate shop has a team, where they sponsor some skateboarders from your area, supporting them means you’re supporting local skateboarders as well. 

We’re not telling you to cancel your Amazon Prime subscription or protest outside of Walmart and Target. Those businesses still have incredible things to offer us! However, when it comes to skateboarding, we believe in supporting companies that give back to the skateboarding community.

No Local Shops In Your Area

This is where things can get tricky. Not every city, town, or village has a skateboarding scene. If the scene doesn’t really exist where you’re located, the chances are very slim that there will be a skate shop close to you.

Thankfully, many local skate shops will have their own online store so that skateboarders from surrounding areas are able to order from them. “John’s Skate Shop” is a few hours away from your place? No problem! Hop on their website, select your gear, and order away! Boom! You’ve done your part supporting the local skate community.

While you may find yourself paying a couple of extra dollars when buying your skateboard from a local shop, it’s a small price to pay given everything that local skate shop has done to promote skateboarding in the community.

The set-up you purchased helps that skate shop stay in business so that they can continue to support local skateboarders. It also allows them to offer high-quality skateboarding equipment and organize local skateboarding events. When has Amazon organized a skate demo at your nearest skatepark? That’s right… Never. 

No Local Shops… Anywhere

This is where Braille steps in to save the day. If you haven’t noticed yet, we’re all about giving back to the skateboarding community. You’ve probably seen this through Skateboarding Made Simple or all of our tutorials on YouTube. We really do care about the industry, and we’re doing what we can to grow it.

We believe in supporting companies that support skateboarding. With that being said, when you purchase a skateboard from the Braille Online Skate Shop, you can be sure your hard-earned money is being used for the betterment of skateboarders worldwide.

While we want you to directly support your local skateboarding scene first, above all else, we also recommend using our Online Skate Shop as an ethical source for your skateboarding needs.

For example, we’ve helped countless of new skateboarders learn how to skateboard through Skateboarding Made Simple. All of our videos are geared towards exploring all aspects of skateboarding and showing just how fun it can be.

Another example is the First Try Foundation, our sister charity company. when you buy a First Try Foundation deck or First Try Hoodie, a portion of the proceeds are used to benefit the First Try Foundation. That’s just one way it could break down.

What’s the First Try Foundation?

Aaron Kyro, the founder of Braille Skateboarding, created The First Try Foundation. It’s a resource for people everywhere to acquire a skateboard, no matter their financial situation. The First Try Foundation aims to give back to the skateboarding community. Because, when more people are introduced to skateboarding, the entire industry wins!

Buying a First Try Foundation Deck or First Try Hoodie from our Shop isn’t the only way to support the First Try Foundation. You can also donate gear, become a Patron on Patreon, or make a monetary donation through PayPal.

Previous gear donations have gone to after school programs, children in third-world countries, and many other places. Becoming a Patron will give you benefits such as exclusive photos and early access to limited edition gear, all for a small monthly payment.

Any support on this is appreciated. If you’d like to donate gear, make a donation or become apart of our Patreon, go to our website here.

Incredible! What else can you tell me about Braille’s Online Skate Shop?

We offer a lot besides professional quality skateboards and skateboard accessories. You can also find the latest Braille apparel, stickers, and signed merchandise on our Online Skate Shop. We have everything you need to learn how to skateboard. Whether you need a new deck or a full complete, we have you covered. 

Through our Online Shop, you’ll also be able to book Private Lessons at the Braille House and be sure to check out our “Sale” section for the greatest deals on the best gear. We also offer gift certificates so you can give the gift of skateboarding to your family or friends.

With new inventory coming in all the time, we recommend checking out our Online Shop.

Have you used our Online Skate Shop? We want to know how the process was! Ttag us on Instagram at @brailleskate, #brailleskate, and #brailleskateboarding. We love seeing you guys progress and want to see all the photos!