From sidewalk to grimy sidewalk, the longboarders of St. Petersburg will soon have a new place to buy locally made boards and all the parts that go with them.
The Local Longboarding Company will officially open a storefront at 659 Central Ave. on March 29 at 10 a.m.
Local woodworkers John Stine and Travis Hise started the company about five years ago after discovering a shared love of boarding. Both men work at Stine’s company Stine Custom Woodworks, located in the Anderson Lumber Company building on 49th Street.
Since the company’s inception, most of their business has been online, but they allow anyone interested to come by the shop and see how the boards are put together. Now, the new shop will serve as a gallery for the boards that are made at the lumber house.
Every Monday, Hise and Stine sit down and brainstorm ideas for new board shapes.
“We probably have a new design come out at least once a month,” Hise said.
The result of their work is two walls of polished Canadian maple boards that can serve as art pieces or functional transportation. Their unique designs include the “Mad Minnow,” the “Street Dart” and the “Zipper.”
Whenever possible, they get the fodder for their boards reclaimed and local.
“We use a lot of stuff that’s on its way to the dump. We have a good relationship with the power companies too, they cut a lot of trees down. We call them up and say ‘got anything cool today?’” Hise said.
According to Hise, production of a single board takes seven to 10 days. Boards range from miniature to massive, but Hise said size doesn’t factor into the production time. No two are exactly alike, but they ensure quality in all of them.
Some of the “deck” shapes were even born out of mistakes, like shaving too much off of a board or imperfections in the wood.
“That’s where woodworking comes in,” Hise said. He said their professional experience has helped them to get whatever they want out of a board.
For Hise, the best part of co-owning the company is interacting with people and “helping get them on the right board.”
The “right board” depends on the size of the person riding it and what types of things they want to be able to do on it, according to Hise. For instance, some boards are made out of more flexible wood for carving, or weaving in an “S” shape when traveling downhill.
Hise said that people passing the shop on the street have been very curious, so much so that he has given tours and let them take rides on demo boards. Soon, he and Stine hope to set up at Albert Whitted Park on Saturdays and let people take test rides.
Hise said that they will stay true to the name of the company as much as possible, getting involved with locals at every chance.
As a first gesture, they crafted 50 boards and then gave them to 50 local artists to do whatever they wanted to them (short of making them unrideable). The resulting designs ranged from illustrations and comic book-style art (including a Mutant Ninja Turtle board) to intricate graphics. All of the boards will be on display and for sale at the store’s grand opening.
Kamelia Sandova and Patrick Shaver took a couple boards out for a test run on Sunday afternoon.
Hise and Stine also recently crafted the wooden bars and tables for Cycle Brewing, which is now their new neighbor. Several of their boards hang on the brewery’s walls.
In their own shop, they have offered to sell boards from other local boardmakers like High Tides and Long Line.
Local Longboarding Company charges $99 for plain decks, and $199 for those adorned with artwork. The extra $100 goes to the artists. The shop also features boards from recognized national brands like Land Yacht, Sector 9 and Clever, as well as apparel, wheels, trucks and hardware.
His esaid he and Stine searched for months for the right location, and they are confident they found a good one.
“We didn’t want to just jump in anywhere,” Hise said. “There aren’t a lot of skate shops around anymore, and definitely not full service shops.”
The location they chose lies conveniently in the middle of the area of downtown St. Petersburg, where longboarding is banned.
The grand opening of the Local Longboarding Company will be on March 29 from 10 a.m. “until everyone leaves,” according to Hise. On its website, locallongboards.com, part one of a three part video series gives the backstory of the company and details the creation of the boards.
