HIDDEN GEMS • Western Skate Co

THE OSIDER JULY / AUGUST 2022

WESTERN SKATE CO.

WORDS: AARON SCHMIDT PHOTOS: ZACH CORDNER

Located in the valley, Western Skate Co. is a newly opened skate shop/skate supply warehouse and is owned and operated by Tim Scanlan and his wife Carrie White Scanlan. “The true owner here is Dave White. Known by many as “LA Dave,” this place is the story of his classic collection. Dave’s had a skate shop since 1978 and he is Carrie’s dad,” said Tim. “Dave reopened his shop after a transition period in 1998, so all the inventory he has here is a collection of things he’s saved over the years.”

When you have a retail store, sometimes your backroom gets stocked up on things that didn’t find their way forward. Dave’s shop was originally called Hot Skates in Glendale in 1978 and then he moved to LA on Hyperion in Los Feliz in 1990, and it became LA Skate Co. Then he (along with Tim) opened Long Beach Skate Co. in 2010. Both shops are still in operation.

Western Skate Co. carries collectible goods leftover from the late 90s and early 2000s skate scene that Dave had saved from his skate shop and stored in a 3,000 square foot warehouse from over twenty years ago. You’ll find all kinds of skate related items like big brand name skate shoes, decks, and clothing from that special era in skateboarding. “What I’m realizing and most of the people that have shopped with us are realizing is the story of ‘Oh, I had that deck that one time and it reminds me of this one time and place, or my friend had that, or I didn’t have enough money to get it at the time.’ So there’s all these stories of not just the product, but the emotion around it and the people attached to it and that’s what skateboarding is,” explained Tim. “There’s that story in any skate shop, and we’re seeing that kind of excitement on these products with everyone.”

The product featured at Western Skate Co. is brand new—it’s been shrink wrapped on a pallet and stored away for many years, now finally seeing the light of day here in Oceanside at the newly formed Western Skate Co. You’ll find all the legendary skate shoe brands like Etnies, Emerica, eS, DC Shoe Co., Vans, Globe, HUF, Adidas, Osiris, Circa, Converse, Lakai, Adio, Duffs, Gravis, and DVS, just to name a few. “It’s classic shoes at varying price points. We also sell classic decks, t-shirts, pants, jackets, hoodies, hats, socks, and accessories all from the last 25 years. You can open a box and see that it’s three years old, and then you could get a box that’s from 2015 or even older. We have a splattering of some boards to set up, but it’s mostly our collectibles. Our story is our collectibles and having access to these rad pieces of history. It’s not a blow out sale. It’s a fair market. We don’t want to come in here and cheapen the concept of classics.”

“We are a collectible store and we’re developing our hours more and more. We also have this website that we’re building— westernskateco.com—that will feature our collection, but we can’t price things fast enough. It also features announcements on our schedule, on our public offerings, and when we’re going to do private showings,” explained Tim. “I have a guy named Keith Mosher working for us and he’s been around skateboarding for a long time and he’s a do-er. He came in and helped make our system better. We chose Oceanside because I grew up around here and got my first skateboard from Ray Underhill at Witt’s Pipeline. My wife and I moved down here to raise our two daughters Ireland and Hazel.”

Open every first and third weekend, this hidden gem is your “go to” for all things skate related and highly collectible. Just make sure to check their Instagram or website for their official hours of operation.

Tim, Ireland, Carrie, and Hazel Scanlan.

Western Skate Co. 3310 Via De La Valle Unit C (760) 672-2150 westernskateco.com @westernskateco