One not insignificant benefit of operating a hard goods business out of California is the abundance of space. You can just find a warehouse, or gentrify one into existence, and use that as the base for all your operations (shipping/receiving, offices, private skatepark, futon, mini fridge).
Which is why the setup for 5Boro skateboards in New York is so impressive. For the past ten years, Mark Nardelli has been running 5Boro out of a one bedroom apartment in Chinatown.
He uses part of the basement for storage, but his apartment regularly gets filled with boxes and taken over with packing product to send out, spray painting test graphics, and shooting catalogs. It’s also a defacto skate house for out of town riders, so Mark rarely has the place all to himself.
We met up with Mark to get a look at the 5Boro apartment and meet one of their up-and-comers, Amir Denis. If you ever thought of running your own board brand, Mark is a good example of the kind of dedication and flexibility you have to have to succeed.
Check back tomorrow for a new vid from 5Boro on the site.
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February 5, 2020 5:55 pm
This is sick! It’s so interesting to see how small some of the operations are of companies that I would have bet were much larger. That VHS graphic is so cool!
February 5, 2020 7:41 pm
This may sound like a joke or something, but i honestly have never ridden better skateboard decks than the 2 5boro boards i owned maybe 10 yrs ago. This video reminded me of how crispy, and pefrectly shaped that wood was. I will now try buy one for my next board. Don’t really see them around as often as others but fingers crossed!
February 6, 2020 4:06 am
i miss willy akers
February 6, 2020 7:47 am
Sk8 or Die for life!