Shop Spotlight- Blindside Colorado

June 9, 2011

How did the shop get its name?  It was partly due to a "falling through" from a previous endeavor....I was Blindsided. But, one of my favorite tricks are big, slow, backside 1's. Back in the day it was called a blindside 180.

How long have you been in business?  We are coming up on 5 years.

Whats your mission?  We want everybody to love snowboarding and skateboarding as much as we do. Anybody that has an interest in these things are our customers. We also do this without barriers, like when you walk into a shop sometimes and you get ignored if you arent in the IN crowd, or dont look the part. We all started riding at one point, we were all beginners too. We share our experience and knowledge with people rather than hoarding it and not giving it away. I believe that snowboarding/skateboarding should be in our collective hands, not a bunch of suits just hunting for dollars.

What your thoughts are on the industry life style. We are lucky and fortunate enough to live this lifestyle. I am very grateful to do what I love in life, and that translates to our interactions with our customers. Personally, the party side of things is a little blown out...sure, have fun, but some industry folk are just way too into the partying and making themselves out to be drunks.

What has been your best selling products? Hmmm. Its pretty well balanced. I would say anything that has a good solid homegrown story to it sells well. Anything that has supreme tech for reasonable money. Anybody can make expensive shit but the companies that make really good quality stuff at an affordable price, well thats what Im talking about. We sell a lot of hardgoods, and I think that comes with the fact that all of the hardgoods are ridden by us before we bring them in and sell them. We ride EVERYTHING before we bring it in the shop. If it passes our tests, we are stoked and its easier to convey that to the customer. Our shop decks are some of the best wood on the planet, and we sell boatloads of Blindside decks. But, winter is definitely higher volume than any other time.

How is the relationship with your local competition? Does it affect the brands you carry? I would say our relationships are pretty good overall. Of course there are other shops we really love and respect, shops that have been here for a long time and done a lot for this community. But, there are still some haters out there. As far as brands, I really try and keep my shelves full of unique and more specialty products and brands. We dont want to be a carbon copy of every other shop out there...I dont want to carry the same stuff as every other shop. That doesnt make any sense to me. Of course there are going to be some of the same things in the shops, but on an overall platform we have a bunch of exclusive product to our store. With the diversity in the industry right now, there are a bunch of companies worth looking at and supporting. Here is a great example, we were the first shop in town to carry Union bindings. I actually got laughed at by another retailer for carrying them. Now, 5 years later, their shelves are fully stocked with Union. We are not going to carry a brand just because of the name, or the hype behind it. Its gotta perform too.

What makes Blindside stand out from the competition? This is easy. First, we absolutely love what we do. This again translates to our customers. Our customers see our stoke and in turn, they get pumped. They know we are not just trying to sell them something. Sure, I own a business and we need to make money to keep the doors open, but not at the expense of selling product that they dont need, or up-selling everything. We dont work on commission, and we dont do any aggro sales tactics. We give everyone who walks through the door our time, talking and hanging out with each and every person who walks through the door. Also, the fact that we ride everything that is in the store. The tuning & repair in the winter is huge as well. I am the only person that touches tune-ups in the shop and I tune everything by hand. Im the one with the experience so I should be doing the work right? We also have demo's in store of all the leading brands that we carry. This enables anybody to try a particular brand or technology before they buy it.

What has been your best selling CandyGrind product? Wow, thats a hard question...CG all around slays it in the shop. The gloves are definitely strong, and getting better every season. The softies are big sellers as well. The facemasks, hoodies, shirts, everything. CG is one of the few brands that we consistently sell out of. So sick. The summer line is great too, and we expect to see that gain significant momentum in the future.

What do you think makes CandyGrind stand apart from other companies in the action sports industry? The same reason we stand out as a shop.....because you guys love it, and it shows. CG cares about the quality of their products. I can tell just by looking at it year after year. Its also important that brands communicate with their retailers. Not just when orders are due, but all of the time. CG does that and its important to me. The product support is fully on point as well. Stoked on CG!!