I spoke with Aaron Dewitt, the purchasing manager at Industrial Ride Shop, to see what’s selling at the retailer’s 14 stores and to see how business is going in general. Industrial’s stores are in five states: Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and Utah.
Here’s what he had to say.
Clothing
KR3W is still doing really well in denim and with tank tops, Aaron said. RVCA is picking up.
Shoes
Vans is “killing it right now across the board,” he said. New school, old school – everything, he said.
Accessories
Spy is crushing it in sunglass, Aaron said. A year ago it was Electric, but now it’s Spy. “I don’t try to figure out why, it just happens,” he said.
In watches, Vestal is picking up some. “We’re getting better sell through with them than we ever had,” Aaron said. “Not as much as Nixon, but Vestal is doing better than it has before.”
Decks
Girl Skateboards, Plan B and Baker decks are selling well.
Trends
The popularity of 8-inch decks.
Sales of all over urban prints are slowing while neon-colored T-shirts with blues, pinks and yellows are picking up.
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Wayfayers from the 1980s are back in a big way. Kids are wearing old Oakley frogskins, left, Aaron said, or buying cheap Wayfayer knockoffs.
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Business overall
Skate shoes: At Industrial, the slowdown in skate shoes started before the economy turned. Shoe sales slowed in June at a time when the store overall was doing great. It wasn’t until November that overall store sales slowed, he said.
Business overall has stabilized, Aaron said after a rough couple of months.
