Bored of Southsea - the Albert Road shop that has spent 27 years supporting the skateboard community - video Dailymotion

The News, Portsmouth

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00:00Yeah, so my name's Gary, and I'm one of the co-owners here at Bord in Albert Road.

00:04Perfect. And yeah, it's a business that's been open for a long time now. Is it 1997?

00:09Yeah, that's right. End of October 1997 we opened, so we've just moved into our 27th year of trade,

00:17which isn't a bad effort.

00:20Yeah. What do you think the secret is in terms of lasting that long?

00:24I think the base of it and what keeps it moving is the people. It's the people,

00:31it's the customer base, their attitudes, their tastes, and it's the environment. It's South Sea

00:38and the wider city. Obviously, we trade online like everyone else, but what keeps the store

00:43turning over is the demographic, the people here. It's good people.

00:48Yeah, yeah. Obviously, it's predominantly a skate shop and skate clothes, etc. Obviously,

00:53must be quite a big scene here, is it?

00:55The scene goes over the years. 27 years is a long time, so the scene goes up and down. It

01:00goes in waves. There's no consistency in it, but the scene's great. South Sea Skateboard Park

01:06on the seafront has... I mean, God, South Sea Skateboard Park on the seafront's been there

01:10since 76. So in terms of a foundation and an anchor for a store like this, you couldn't ask

01:18for anything else. It's legendary. It's legendary. That skate park is legendary nationally,

01:25internationally. So yeah, it's good. It's great. It's a great base, and we're very lucky to have

01:35it. We're really lucky to have it. Is that the basis of where they started,

01:39like a gap in the market? Yeah, I think so. I think it was a combination of a gap in the market

01:47for offering different brands that perhaps South Sea Skateboard Park didn't offer,

01:52but also as well for students and other people within the community here in South Sea. So it's

02:00a number of elements that kind of make the place add up. We're kind of running this Love Your

02:06campaign at the moment, which is kind of like what we've been called a love letter to the city

02:10almost. I don't know. Would you kind of describe this almost in your way as kind of almost a love

02:14letter to South Sea? The thing in terms of your nod to South Sea? I think the store is a reflection

02:25generally of the scene, what people are into. So yeah, I suppose in a way. Yeah, yeah. And

02:34the store's been here a long time, and it's always kind of tried to give back as well,

02:39whether that's through sponsoring local skateboarders, guys and girls, or putting on

02:46events. We've done a number of events at South Sea Skate Park over the decades, and then the new

02:54bringing in of Pitt Street Skate Park as well. We've supported that. We've supported events on

02:59Hailing Island, events over in Tottenham, and like all over this kind of area. So yeah,

03:07we kind of encourage and encourage the act of skateboarding that way for people.

03:14Yeah, we must have seen new generations coming through as well.

03:17Always. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And even with 27 years, we've got to the point now where we are beginning

03:23to see the children of our original customers coming through, and they are the new blood.

03:30They're coming through. They're 16, they're 17, they're ripping, and their parents are still

03:34skating, and they're in their 40s or whatever age, or even older, you know. So yeah, to see

03:40those generations come through, that's really nice. That's quite special when you see that,

03:46because you see them coming in as kids, and then the next thing you know, they're

03:50whatever age they are, and then they're, like I say, they're shredding. So it's really good.

03:54It's really good. And what's kind of your best sellers at the moment?

03:59In terms of we've always produced our own printable stuff, our own branded stuff always

04:04does good. We have brands that we always work with, like Carhartt Work in Progress,

04:11that always does good. And then things like, we have a good relationship with New Balance

04:14Skateboarding. We've known those guys for a long time, and they're incredibly helpful

04:20supporting local riders with footwear, but also as well helping things like Pit Street Skatepark.

04:26They've pulled money from global international pots to specifically support Pit Street here

04:36in Portsmouth, which is kind of a big deal for us to get that acknowledgement from the offices

04:44in Long Beach in California to support a skatepark in Portsmouth. It's an amazing thing. It's very

04:50cool. Very cool. And anyone interested in Carhartt Work in Progress online, where can they find you?

04:55Board of Southsea, boardofsouthsea.co.uk, or if you Google Skateboard Shop Portsmouth,

05:02we'll pop up first. Yeah, support your local independent retailer. Whatever they are and

05:10whatever they do, try and support independents. They work hard, they appreciate your money,

05:16and I feel like they deserve to be supported. So support independents.

Bored of Southsea - the Albert Road shop that has spent 27 years supporting the skateboard community

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