I thought for our 2 year anniversary it was high time to set the story straight to the skate community of Eugene/Springfield and beyond about the origin of Cactus Skateboards.
Cactus Skateboards began as a dream over 10 years ago. In the mid 90's I really wanted to be a professional skateboarder (yeah… I still do but I'm old and I suck. So what?). Anyway, two friends of mine, Ed and Trent, started their own skateshop in the town where I lived. These were good guys with good heads on their shoulders. They started a skateshop that focused on skateboarding only since they themselves were only into skateboarding, just like me. They sold only skateboard goods and hardware. No snowboards, no surfboards, no wetsuits, just skateboards. In no time it blossomed. Within a year they had 2 successful shops up and running and today have 4 shops and a central warehouse with a huge private miniramp. To say the least, they are super successful and are what any skateshop owner longs for, including me. That was well over 10 years ago.
With the advent of their shop my dream of becoming a skateshop owner was a seed thirsty for water. I spoke of it from time to time with close friends but was never really serious about it, or even taken seriously by my friends. Rather quickly through the years I came to the disappointing conclusion that I would never make it into professional skateboarding, not even close. The best I got was a shop sponsor with shoes flowed now and then from the sales reps from Duffs and DVS. Don't get me wrong, I greatly appreciated everything that was given to me – still do. But professional skateboarding requires the best of the best and is very demanding on your time, energy and body. And I obviously am nowhere near the best of the best. I mean, most of you guys have skated with me and it's rather pathetic, wouldn't you say? I got janky oldschool style and my kickflips blow... I do love skateboarding though. And I'll never quit. But good luck to those of you who are going for it. My heart is with you and I'm full of advice for what not to do.
Back to the Cactus story. So this dream subtly kept growing over the years. In the meantime, I got married, got a college degree, lived overseas for a couple years and had a kid. It wasn't until my wife and I were talking about it one day when she asked where I would like to start the shop. When I told her none other than her hometown of Springfield, Oregon things got really serious. My dream shifted from being a mere seed into an overdrive reality. We started writing down every idea we could and talked about it nonstop. This was all during our time living in South Korea. It wouldn't be for another year and a half before we would have the business plan drawn up and a few "start your own business" lessons under our belts before we actually opened the doors.
Right away we wanted to name the shop Cactus Skateboards because the cactus plant represents a place where skateboarding meant so much to me – the desert. Phoenix, Arizona is where my good friends had started their shop and since they were so good to me I wanted to somehow pay homage to them for treating me so well by naming our shop Cactus. They even helped me come up with a practical way of running our shop. The help Ed and Trent offered through the years can never be repaid. I owe them my very life.
We moved back to Oregon after spending 2 years teaching English overseas. Once we were back, with my dream burning in my chest, we set out to open Cactus Skateboards once and for all. That, however, was not without it's setbacks. We had many, many obstacles to overcome before opening our doors to sell skateboards to you guys. One of the biggest obstacles was general know-how. Neither I nor my wife had ever started a business before. It wasn't long though before we were fortunate enough to meet a guy by the name of Colin. Consequently, he was the owner of Bacon Skateboards and he knew everything there was to know about opening up a business. Luckily for us he had sympathy and decided to lend us a hand. Honestly, we could not have done it without his energy and efforts. We also owe him our greatest debt of gratitude.
From the beginning I wanted to make a skateshop unlike any other shop in the Eugene/Springfield area. I wanted a place for you guys to hangout at, watch skate videos for free, skate a few ramps, and most importantly be influenced in a positive way to… well, skate. This proved to be another obstacle for us – legitimacy. I mean, I'm not from around here. I didn't know any of you guys before we started this thing. I had to start and build friendships from the ground up. That takes work and most importantly time. But I wanted to be a legitimate skateshop that you all could relate to, be stoked on, and be willing to support. In time, fortunately, this happened and continues to happen to this day. We could not exist without all of your help. Every dime spent here is accounted for and only helps us grow. The more you shop here the better the Cactus gets. In that regard this is your shop. I guess the main persons I owe the most gratitude is all you – the ones interested enough in Cactus Skateboards to read this lame little story.
I never wanted to get rich off skateboarding. That's not why I stated a skateshop. Skateboarding has done so much for me and has been there every time I needed it that I just wanted to be able to give back a little something of my own, hence Cactus Skateboards. This is my way of saying "thank you" to skateboarding. We hold contests and events, sponsor local rippers like Chris Fish and pass out free hot dogs all to draw attention to the positive aspects of skateboarding: it's brotherhood, excitement and fun. That's pretty much the gist of it.
In summary, I feel it must be said again and even emphasized: If Cactus Skateboards exists it is only by you, and in order for Cactus to continue to exist it is only by your loyalty to continue to shop here. Thank you, thank you, thank you for making Cactus Skateboards what it is today.
-Redneck '07
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