Tactics, an Oregon-based key skate and snow retailer with five stores and a robust ecommerce business, has been acquired by the company behind skate shoe brand Lakai, which is led by Marc Roca.
Roca, who has a background in private equity, business turnarounds, and e-commerce, acquired Lakai in 2024.
Roca acquired Tactics from Japanese company TSI Holdings, the previous owner of Lakai and the current owner of HUF. TSI bought Tactics in April 2020.
Tactics has a team of very experienced buyers and skate and snow specialists, and Roca, who is new to the skate industry. He believes they will help him and his team learn even more about the skateboard world.
“The team at Tactics is full of industry experts. Since we are new in the industry we believe it will accelerate our learnings and allow us to grow faster by vertically integrating brands into the retailer,” Roca said in an interview. “In my opinion, there aren’t enough retailers in the skate category and that is detrimental because it lowers the amount of product a consumer can try and touch. This is why the industry has been declining with skate shops closing as well.”
Lakai and Tactics will continue to be operated separately with distinct leadership teams.
Roca has big plans for Tactics, including raising growth capital and opening more stores in the next few years. Other changes include switching Tactics’ ecommerce platform to Shopify in the near future.
The Tactics store in Bend, Oregon. SESO file photo.
It’s been a difficult retail environment out there, and Tactics is not immune. Roca said the company lost money in 2024, but expects to break even this year.
“After some quick changes in April, we are already seeing double digit growth in gross profit year on year,” he said.
Roca is currently leading Tactics as interim CEO. Existing Tactics employees August Klingman and Austin Dal Molin, chief financial officer and chief merchandising officer, respectively, round out the leadership team.
Roca sees opportunity for Lakai and Tactics to work strategically together on product launches and community events in the future.
“We have some surprises coming up at Lakai for fall, and we want the feedback from our customers touching and feeling the product in the stores,” he said. “That will help us create better products faster.”
Currently, Tactics operates stores in Eugene, Bend, and Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; and Sapporo, Japan.
The company is a major player in action sports ecommerce. In 2019, the founders told SESO that ecommerce accounted for 88% of total sales.
Tiffany Montgomery can be reached at tiffany@shop-eat-surf-outdoor.com.
