Skatelier Chats: Ryan Nurse from SCSS
This week’s newsletter is a quick chat with Ryan Nurse who, along with his partner Heather, owns Sonoma Coast Surf & Skate in Petaluma CA. Scrolls on scrolls could be filled with ramblings about the importance of skateshops. There are sacrifices involved with operating these spaces and serving or, in some cases, creating communities.
Ryan runs the shop 6-7 days a week and, pre-COVID, would throw monthly art shows (with complimentary beers provided) plus host video premiers and other events. It isn’t out of character for him to show up early to put together window displays that balance product optics with artwork expressing the anger/confusion/exasperation of living in current times. Come 6’oclock you might find him with a camera bag slung over his shoulder pushing around filming for local video projects despite a laundry list of injuries. Ryan gives a shit in a way that’s increasingly rare these days and is in the trenches fighting to promote the cool/important parts of skateboarding. Yeah, we’re gassing this dude up because he does a lot and deserves it.
The following is a quick chat alongside some of the collages that end up in the windows of his shop.
Skatelier: Yo Ryan! I’m gonna start sending some questions your way.
Okay so obviously owning a skateshop in a relatively small town isn’t some kind of get rich quick scheme. How’d you come to own the shop? How long ago? What’s the goal/motivation behind operating the space?
Ryan: So, moved out west about six years ago after quitting my job, giving away or selling most of my belongings and packing up my truck.
Ended up with a 2 day a week gig at the shop in August 2014. Obviously I was aware of the park here from all the footage, photos, and ads in the late 90’s, and thought there was a need for a place closer to a “real” shop.
In buying an existing business there are only so many changes one can make and survive in a mid size town, but for better or worse we bought the place in June of 16.
Yeah that’s one thing I wanted to ask you about. There have to be some concessions made in the way you operate based on the size of the city/scene and the existing customer base when you took over. From the brands you’ve chosen to carry, to the monthly art shows, to the skaters you’re hooking up, to the window displays...there’s a million cool ways you’ve made it yours and fostered a scene. What are the toughest parts of the whole thing? The most gratifying?
Well, thanks for the kind words.
Concession is a bit of an understatement. When a shop has been around in one form or another for almost thirty years people have a LOT of preconceived notions. As we have all been experiencing, people really don’t do well with change, small or large.
So we’ve done more than our share of answering questions about brands folks may not have been familiar with, and it’s quite frequent to have people ask for brands that will never be on the wall.
The hope is that a few make the choice to explore something new. Maybe take a less-traveled path. That’s the hope.
The most gratifying thing is seeing a kid who started coming in here at 9 or 10, when we first took over, they’re riding a scooter, have a Supreme sticker on their helmet, 4 years later they’re riding a Politic board and wearing a Polar beanie. Seeing a random Magenta sticker on a Stop sign. You have to have some of that to hold on to, otherwise it’s tough to get out of bed to sell flip-flops.
Yeah there have to be those little moments that reaffirm that you’re part of the thing you care about. Even just email correspondence with some of the folks at companies you carry has got to feel nice...
You’re an extremely obsessive guy with many areas of interest. Encyclopedic knowledge of film, art, skateboarding, history/political movements, music, etc....all this stuff is filtered through your own lens then shows up in how you represent the shop visually with video, IG stuff, the window displays...what’s the process like there? How do people respond to what you’re doing?
Well, again, thanks. Like yourself, I tend to get obsessed with things and try to explore them from every angle and context.
In terms of a process, since the entire planet has been taught or is being forced to turn themselves into a brand, the image is the only language we speak.
Then put every image that’s ever existed in everyone’s pocket. So to take those images we are surrounded by and put them where they don’t ordinarily exist and try to inject that with some trace of meaning…
This all is a pretentious way to say that I genuinely think no one has a clue what I’m doing and largely think I’m out of my mind. Marketing 101 it isn’t.
But to the few who may connect with it, the hope is it carries more weight, makes them feel a bit more of the place, makes it more theirs.
Or something like that.
Hell yeah, exactly. Just what I was looking for...
9/10 people might stare at the window displays with their heads cocked sideways like confused dogs and then the 10th person walks in with an ear-to-ear smile and wants to have a chat.
The world is imploding and marketing stuff feels bizarre and I think you do a good job of expressing the cognitive dissonance there...
How has the product/board shortage been since the shutdown? Has having an online store helped much? I know we’re all fucked but has there been any silver linings?
Well, the entire industry is seeing unprecedented demand, which is a great problem to have right now. But I fear it will only serve the bigger online shops as they are able to do much larger buys when product becomes available. When someone makes a choice to try and support local, and finds product out of stock, they hop on CCS or Skate Warehouse and bam. They have what they need on the way.
In terms of an online element, during the two months of closure, it was absolutely vital, and kept people rolling and allowed me to pay rent and utilities and keep product coming in. Since re-opening, people are understandably desperate to feel “normal” so coming into the actual shop has been a much bigger part of the day-to-day. That’s always the part that worries me…tech support, or chat or what have you…are they 36 years deep in something they deeply love? Are the online retailers as committed to making sure you leave with the best possible option for you?
So, as all of us are adapting and enjoying the insane “boom” right now, the long term projections look fairly grim for a lot of smaller shops particularly.
Yeah you might be able to find a little deal but you’re not coming into the shop and measuring things out and talking shit. Not able to try on a hoody or whatever to see if it works.
I wanted to get into some clothing-related questions. You’ve got stuff like Butter Goods that’s sought after in the US, Portugal-made Polar gear, etc...I know you probably can’t order stuff that’s as out-there as you’d like, but what are you looking for when ordering clothing for the shop? How does this stuff do? How psyched are you to see some random at the corner store wearing an Alltimers shirt?
In terms of the brands I’ve brought in over the last few years, I am always looking for something that has a unique perspective but also brings something else to the table. It has to be a more fully-formed vision, because every insta account and their brother has a t-shirt company these days.
Brands like Butter Goods don’t hide their own influences, they literally wear them on their sleeve, and I appreciate that.
Now, as you know all too well, price points are an issue in a smaller, more agricultural town, so there are a number of pieces, many more recently, that I can’t bring in due to price point alone, which is frustrating, since if the shop was in the city or Oakland that stuff would be flying off the shelves.
Introducing as many new brands as we have is not without challenges, as new things take time to connect, and they won’t with everyone who comes through the door, and that has to be okay, or I would just stock Indy tees in every color.
But after a while, we get the 50-something dude that’s always looking for new Quasi tees, or the retired therapist that just bought a Polar hip bag.
So, yes, I absolutely love to hear about the random dude at Whole Foods in a Hopps hat or a Theories pyramid sticker on a mini-van. Those moments are absolute day-makers.
Hell yeah, gotta have that balance. So you have a history in the world of Capital “F” Fashion...what’s the story there? Got a fun story or anecdote from those times?
Well, it sounds far more interesting than it is. Unfortunately, as is the case in so many “creative fields” it’s full of people far too worried about their own standing and not nearly enough about design.
Attitude and ego are rewarded, it’s very close to middle school. That said, would I take back constructing runways in Bryant Park and some of the absolutely ridiculous situations I had no business in? Likely not, because it gave me perspectives I use every day in buying for and running the shop. Mostly I got to wear some very nice suits over the years. I wish I had a great “I met Junya Watanabe” story for you.
Ah yeah a Junya story could be killer...definitely must have been interesting to see that world from the inside.
Alright, one last question that I want to ask for every Skatelier chat: what gear are you most ashamed of sporting during your time skating? Could be a whole kit, a wack trend participated in, or even just a single garment...I wore Dockers Alpha Khakis and besides the name being super embarrassing they were just too tight and unflattering and I get real bummed looking back on that footage.
Well, a few points: one, “ashamed” is a heavy term, and given the fact that I’ve been skating for 36 years, I have so many cringe gear choices I could go on for days. But, to that point, it’s all a part of trying things out to find out what works for the individual, so I’m not ashamed of any of it.
That said, I’ve very grateful I didn’t film as much as most people because there would likely be some footage of me looking FAR too much like Ragdoll.
Yep, women’s ripped Diesels? Check.
Checkerboard slip on’s? Check
Black extra-medium Stones shirt? Check.
Thin lapeled tux jacket? Check.
But let’s take it back, desperately searching for a chain wallet after Shackle Me Not came out? Check.
Morphing that into Markovich style long beads and even longer cut off shants? Oh yeah.
And then feeling deeply connected to A Visual Sound because my friends talked smack on my cardigans and growing Coltrane obsession? Yep.
So it’s all part of a longer process. It all goes back to the re-contextualization of the images we talked about at the beginning of this conversation. Dressing is all just visual sampling.
Hah yeah I guess shame is a strong word for gear choices. I do wish you had some clips to share in the Diesel Jeans…
Thanks again for agreeing to chat. Any shoutouts, words of wisdom, etc?
Thank you for the opportunity to ramble on about nonsense. I truly appreciate it.
Shout outs could go on for hours, so I’ll simply say, if you have ever taken the time to ride skateboards with me, I truly thank you and I Love you.
Every person who has ever made a single purchase of anything from my shop, that support means the world. I’ll leave you with words that have informed my way of thinking profoundly over the years:
“If you want to communicate something, even if it’s just an emotion or an attitude, let alone an idea, the least effective way is directly. It only goes about an inch. But if you can get people to the point where they have to think a moment about what it is you’re getting at, and then discover it, the thrill of discovery goes right to the heart.”-Stanley Kubrick