Many are surprised to find that one of the United States’ oldest skateshops, 35th Avenue, is located in a suburb of Seattle, Washington, one of the most notoriously rainy cities. The shop, now the godfather in a network with two others, is built upon values of support for the local community that keeps it thriving. Dave Waite, 35th Avenue’s Manager for the past decade, has a specific vision for how the shop should function:
“If you’re not slowly building up your scene, that’s the job of every skateboard shop,” said Waite. “Dealing with your kids, your customers, everyday. And talking to them, and keeping them psyched on skateboarding. I mean, that’s my job, that’s the biggest part of my job.”
35th Avenue’s history in skateboarding stretches all the way back to 1977, when 16-year-old skateboarder Kyle Finn began selling skateboards out of his garage using the reseller’s licenses his parents acquired to operate a truck stop in the town of Des Moines. Located due south of downtown Seattle, the shop bounced to several different locations throughout Pierce County, spending time in the port city of Tacoma before moving to it’s current location off Pacific Highway South in Federal Way in the mid 1990s. It was at this time that Waite began to frequent the shop as a customer. In 2001 Waite joined the staff at 35th Avenue, months after Finn had been approached by skateboarders Matt Bennett and Tony Croghan from Seattle’s University District about starting a sister shop downtown.
A former manager at 35th Avenue, Bennett and his partner were interested in forming their own branch of the shop near University of Washington’s main campus. They soon had a space picked out in the U District above a popular nightclub. In the span of only a few months after getting permission to use the 35th name, Croghan was standing behind the counter at his new shop, called 35th North, in what he described in an interview with TheBerrics.com as “the crappiest location in the city, by far.”
“This was such a tiny space,” said Croghan of the early shop. “And all of us, like, all the kids who skated Red Square and stuff, all skated for 35th Ave… that was just “the shop.” It was sort of like ‘Well fuck it, let’s just make one up north and call it 35th North.’”
In 2003 Croghan bought out Bennett’s shares in 35th North, taking control of the shop himself. That same year he moved his branch downtown to a space on Capital Hill that had been previously occupied by a snowboarding shop. Although he expected backlash from Snowboard Connection, the only remaining boardshop in the city, and the snowboarding community at large, Croghan was pleasantly surprised by the acceptance he found.
“I have nothing against snowboarding,” Croghan was careful to specify. “But I’ve always had this feeling of like, its not skateboarding, goddamnit. I didn’t like the idea of Sno-Con, Snowboard Connection, with a small skateboard department.”
35th North has steadily grown into its role as the preeminent skateshop in the northwest since its inception, but perhaps its greatest contribution to the skateboarding community came in the form of a contest Croghan created to celebrate street skateboarding in the city. The competition, loosely inspired by Seattle local Scott Yamamura’s “Revolution Street” contest of the late 90s, was called the All-City Showdown and premiered in 2006 with a handful of skateboarders and videographers on board as contestants. In this first incarnation of the contest, skaters had four hours to film as many clips as possible throughout the city. There were almost no rules, other than that the teams must remain within the city limits, and all skating must all take place in the gritty streets.
“It’s a real demonstration of skateboarding and your (the competitor’s) skills,” said Ben Ericson, one of the Seattle area’s most respected videographers and the editor of this 2012’s All-City Showdown. “Just to be able to go out in a day and deal with the real streets, and traffic, people, security, all that. It’s not like a closed course… You’re just using your eight hours.”
The contest has grown greatly over the past seven years, with the team count and time limit expanded. The yearly All-City Showdown premiere is one of the most popular events in the scene, and takes place every year in December, the week before Christmas.
In 2008, the family of shops would grow once more. After seven years in business, 35th North had established itself as the preeminent skateshop in Seattle, and Croghan saw a need for another retail spot outside of the city limits. After viewing inFOCUS, a skate video by local videographer Brandon Jensen featuring skateboarders from the north end of the city, Croghan decided to reach out to these skaters with the idea of starting a shop in their community.
With the help of local skater Sean Motaghedi the third shop, called North End, was opened in the town Lynnwood. While still co-owned by Croghan and a close associate of 35th North, they decided to give the branch a new name to appeal to the suburban community it would serve.
This year the original shop, 35th Avenue, will turn 36 years old. It is possibly the longest running skateshop in America (actual dates are sketchy on this subject) and appears to be going nowhere in the foreseeable future. Happy birthday dudes!
Phone interviews with Dave Waite, Tony Croghan and Ben Ericson were used in the creation of this story. Additional sources listed as follows:
Dave Waite Interview for TheBerrics.com: http://theberrics.com/field-ops/35th-avenue.html?autoplay
Tony Croghan Interview for TheBerrics.com: http://theberrics.com/field-ops/35th-north.html?autoplay
skateacumen 