The opening of brick-and-mortar shops catering to the needs of inline skaters has long been a rare, if not entirely odd event. Over the last decades, most retail has gradually moved online. Thus, shopping overseas for ill-fitting clothes, hoping the new boots you ordered actually match your shoe size, and counting the days until your package gets either delivered or seized by your local customs has become an all too familiar experience. While not exactly enjoyable, long-time skaters haven’t had much choice but to adapt to these circumstances. Newcomers, however, can easily be turned off entirely by such ordeals which, at least in part, comes to explain the stagnant state of the sport and the lack of new blood coming in to revive the culture.
A Conversation with This Is Soul's Ivo Vegter
A Conversation with This Is Soul's Ivo Vegter
A Conversation with This Is Soul's Ivo Vegter
The opening of brick-and-mortar shops catering to the needs of inline skaters has long been a rare, if not entirely odd event. Over the last decades, most retail has gradually moved online. Thus, shopping overseas for ill-fitting clothes, hoping the new boots you ordered actually match your shoe size, and counting the days until your package gets either delivered or seized by your local customs has become an all too familiar experience. While not exactly enjoyable, long-time skaters haven’t had much choice but to adapt to these circumstances. Newcomers, however, can easily be turned off entirely by such ordeals which, at least in part, comes to explain the stagnant state of the sport and the lack of new blood coming in to revive the culture.