Big Wig: Steve Douglas on Shaping Skateboarding,From Pro Skater to Industry Heavyweight
A heavyweight in the world of skateboarding, Steve Douglas has been involved with some of the industries most iconic media and hardgoods brands throughout a career now into its fourth decade. Currently involved with 3 different companies, Steve is the VP of Business Development at Sidewalk Skateboard Distribution, and Managing Director at Rolling Thunder Supply Co & Nineteen76 distribution. We hear about Steve’s career, his opinion on the industry, the non profit Make Life Skate Life and the London Calling skate event.
Steve Douglas
You started skating in 1976. Please tell us about your background and what led to your current positions.
I started entering contests in 1981, moved to America in 1985 with the ambition to become a professional skater. I turned pro in 1987 for Schmitt Stix, Indy, Vans and Quiksilver.
In 1990, I co-founded the New Deal, Element, Mad Circle, Golden state wheel co, 411 Video magazine, On video and Destructo trucks all under the Giant skateboard distribution umbrella where I was President. When we sold Element to Billabong in 2001, I stepped back in 2002 to be with my young family.
In 2004, I joined Dwindle with my long term friend Bod Boyle where I was in charge of Business development and ran the EMEA region and the global complete category as well as many other things!
After leaving Dwindle in 2016, I started Rolling Thunder Supply Co in 2018 which focused on the skateboard completes category and price point product.
In the same year, I also started Nineteen76, a UK based distributor selling many brands. Today we license Meow, Zoo York, Blueprint Speed demons and Ocean Pacific, we manufacture in China and ship globally. Last year we started Sidewalk Skateboard Distribution based in California with my old friends from Dwindle Distribution – Bod Boyle, Louie Barleta, Bill Weiss, Ernie Diaz, and Eric Wollam. We have a small but amazing, dedicated and hard working crew.
How is the Skate hardgoods market currently?
Tough, but we knew that when we started Sidewalk and we planned for that, our focus is to build the company during this time so we can have everything in place for when it comes back…and it will come back.
Steve Douglas
Are you still feeling the impact of Covid?
Yes. There is still way too much cheap stock in all global markets. But it is definitely getting less and before you know, it will be all gone.
What are the major current trends?
There are a few green shoots of growth but it will take another year at least to be out of the woods, and maybe some categories even longer in other regions of the world.
In the skate deck category, 8.5+ seems to be the current standard width, we’re also seeing some small but optimistic growth – minis, mid, micros and soft top completes. Also 8.25 and above completes are doing well. Wider trucks are having a momentl with our Slappy Trucks Curb Killer and any trucks 9’ or wider have been killing it, we can’t keep them in stock, it’s insane!
You launched Sidewalk Skateboard Distribution in 2023 please take us through the business.
It’s a small company filled with industry veterans. The Opera brand is made up of the team who left Madness and the team at Jacuzzi came from the ashes of Enjoi. Slappy Trucks are building so much traction now, and we just launched Push focusing on complete setups. We’ve also just launched Bro style, a grip tape collaboration with Jessup, and soon a heritage category which will be a lot of work but heaps of fun that Steve Rocco is involved with.
Steve Douglas
Wow that a lot, tell us more about Push?
Push is our give back brand, its purely focused on completes as for most companies completes are simply an afterthought. We will focus all of our energy into completes for Sidewalk. We have pro and artist guest models whose proceeds go to their skate charity of their choice. We will always have a line for Make Life Skate Life a non profit that is incredible. We will use proceeds to have a mental health professional on a retainer for our riders and employees at Sidewalk, we hope that all brands have this resource in the future.
Talking of Make Life Skate Life, you are actively involved in raising money for them to build skate parks in underserved communities around the world. How has this initiative progressed?
Good! We have been able to get funding for the new park in Siargao Skatepark in the Philippines that’s opening in a few months. A special thanks to Nike and especially Sky Brown. We are also working on a facility in Baghdad. The MLSL guys and girls do amazing work, our goal is to build 30 new skate communities in the next 15 years in underserved communities around the world. Find out more at www.makelifeskatelife.org
Last year you Launched London calling and the 2nd edition of the event was held in July. What are you trying to achieve with London calling?
We believe the UK is the best and most influential skate scene in the world outside of California. We want to showcase that to a wider audience, and give credit to the people who make the scene what it is. Over every decade the UK has produced some of the highest level pro’s, UK based companies and magazines with photographers contributing to US magazines. It is home to some great skateparks, video edits with a backdrop of an amazing music scene.
It always upset me that the 70’s UK skaters and companies were overlooked when it comes to the Skateboarding Hall Of Fame. At London Calling last year, we wanted to raise the profiles of the 70’s pioneers, and it paid off. Earlier this year in May, 3 UK based skaters got inducted into SHoF from the 70’s – Mark Baker, Jeremy Henderson, and Marc Sinclair. It was great to see Tom Penny (1990’s) and Geoff Rowley (2000’s) get added too. It was an amazing evening, not only for the British scene but for global skateboarding.
It’s my hope that every country does their version so we can celebrate and show respect to the guys that laid the foundation for all the amazing global scenes while these pioneers are alive.
This year we focused on the Read and Destroy book. A 272 page retrospective of the life and times of RAD magazine and its creators with a deep dive into the formative years of skateboarding in the UK from 1979 to 1995. The book is a must have, order it from https://www.read-and-destroy-archive.com/radshop/rad-book
Next year we will be combining London Calling and the Skateboarding Hall of Fame by bringing them both to the Torrance Art Museum in LA. These events are a lot of work, we need outside funding as there are only so many favors you can ask for! I believe these events are critical to keeping our scenes healthy, so we will keep trying to pull these off even if they are smaller!
Steve Douglas
Recently Leigh Nardellim, one of the EMEA industries major faces and a close friend to you, died in a tragic car accident, and you have started a go fund campaign for his children. How might we all get involved? It was devastating and still does not feel real. I was lucky enough to know Leigh for over 30 years, he recently started work for Sidewalk, Rolling Thunder and oversaw nineteen76. He was integral to all 3 companies. On top of that he ran OEM production at Dwindle’s Chop Chop Woodshop for Europe.
Leigh leaves behind Eddie (17yo) and Axel (4yo), please support the boys. The family thanks you. Leigh will be missed and never forgotten https://gofund.me/b08161c6
…
What are the biggest lessons you have learnt in business since you started?
Really it’s just common sense. Work really hard, give everything or don’t bother. Take care of your people, value and respect them as well as your customers and suppliers. Lastly, bad news should travel quicker than good news.
What achievement are you most proud of since you started skating and why?
Starting 411 Video magazine. I think it changed skateboarding for the better and really looking back it was ahead of its time. It was put together with a variety of small video sections which is the format you see today. The key thing was that after 411, you didn’t have to live in California to get noticed, you could be anywhere as long as you could supply footage. Our motto was if it’s good, it goes in! Look out for some exciting news on 411VM and a 6 month exhibit in a famous NYC museum opening in September. If I can choose a second one, it’s what we did at London Calling last year, this was purely out of respect, it needed to happen!
Steve Douglas
How do you see the future for the skate hardgoods industry?
It can only get better from here. There are deals out there that will soon come to an end, if you have the ability, my advice is to stock up on these deals, soon all the new product available will be expensive. I think everyone that is still standing once we get through this, will use the last 4 years as a huge learning experience, even ones that have been doing this for 40+ years!
Regardless of what’s going on in the industry, the act of skateboarding is as exciting as ever, there’s young kids starting every day, older generations still not only ripping but progressing and a more diverse crew at every park I visit. It’s a beautiful thing we are involved in, we are lucky!
