In the past few years, skateboarding has become more and more popular all around the world. This has led to the opening of many different skate shops. Instead of having small, local skate shops there are big chains, such as Zumiez, that have a huge online store and hundreds of stores all across the globe. The big question is, who should you buy from? The local shop or the big chains?

Zumiez has made skateboarding much more mainstream. Since the style of skateboarding clothing is a big part of modern culture, Zumiez has taken advantage of this and sells everything skate related. They sell the skateboards along with the clothing and accessories. The company is very large, which makes it seem like the best option. Since their demand is very high, it makes their prices cheaper than most skate shops since they’re making much more money. It makes the local skate shops seem overpriced. You would probably wonder why anyone would pay more than they have to.

Local skate shops play a much bigger role than many people expect. Even though they’re slightly more expensive, your purchase has way more value in a local skate shop. Local skate shops will initiate the building of skateparks near you. They’ll also do things such as raise money to put lights at your local skatepark, so you can skate at night. Skate Shops will also hold events near you like skateboarding contests. Contests are a great way of getting your community together and it is a great way for the shop to raise money. 

What I want people to get out of this is to always buy local if possible. If you cannot afford it then that’s okay. Local skate shops are the ones responsible for pushing skateboarding near you. If you love your community and want to see your skate community grow then shop local as much as possible.