Shop Profile: Mantis, Germany, Skate

Shop Name:  Mantis Life Store

Location: Grosse Theaterstrasse 7, Germany

Age of Shop (years trading): 12

Brands Stocked: Vans, Nike SB, TRAP, Volcom, Carhartt, Cleptomanicx, Obey, Huf, Element, Visualante, Servant.

What percentage of your sales are from online business compared to your in-store sales?

5% online 95% Retail

What are the benefits of having a physical shop over simply having an online store?

Meeting fellow humans

What makes your store different and in what ways does your store excel beyond your competition?

We are real and we give back, do events, go skate every possible day, keep up the spirit that with your skateboards you can make a positive inpact in your life and the life of others.

What trends do you see upcoming in skate?

Away from classical Skateclothes, no big logos, and the need for smaller brands, that are not available everywhere with 80% off all the time. DYI, is coming strong, liberating your local street and generating new spots, without having permission. Letting noone tell us what to do, I see more people joining us again in this mindstate.

What kind of advice can you give other independent retailers who are trying to compete against the big box megastores?

Make sure your shop is real, skaters still like to go to a skateshop. Stay hungry, motivated, make shit happen, give pressure to your Vendors to support you, they all say core shops are important and blah blah, but make them support you!  Deal discounts, special rates. And keep the fire burning! “ask not what skateboarding can do for you, ask what you can do for Skateboarding”

Which up and coming brand do you hope to stock in the future?

I think Polar and Melodica are hot!

What are you doing to pull people into your store?

Like I said Events, signing, we are even doing a concert with Tommy G and Ray Barbee next week.

How confident are you for the coming summer?

I always stay positive until proven wrong.

How’s the local market in these days?

It is slow, but steady.

What items are you most stoked on in upcoming lines and why? 

All Polar Items are fu%&in hot!

If skaters visit your area, what are a few things we have to check out locally?

The Red Banks, St. Pauli, Old Downtown city center, Flora Bowl and Mantis Old School Deck Museum.

What have been the best three selling categories for you in the last 12 months?

Shoes and Hardware

Please tell us of any upcoming initiatives your shop has planned? (events, signings, re-vamps etc…)

Spitfire Team demo and signing, Ray Barbee and Tommy G concert. Jason Adams Art Exibition is running at the moment.