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Directive feeds off the passion
for board sports
By Blaine Adams
May 15, 2009 | Directive Board Shop, with its concrete
floors and skating gear, may feel like another mass-marketed
mall shop, complete with disinterested teenagers tending
the counter and overpriced, low-quality merchandise.
But employee Jarvis Parry, who's been at the store
for four years, says Directive is different.
"This is a shop for people who have a passion for
board sports," he said. "You can have a specialty shop
for boards because it's so main stream." Located near
what he called, "the shopping district," the store moved
a few months ago from its 400 North location. There
was some discussion about whether to even continue,
but Parry said the service the store provides necessitates
its existence.
"Logan needs more local shops," he said. "We give
good detailed information about boards, how they work,
[and] we've been doing our annual competition for six
years."
The store has an authentic feel to it, one that is
hard to replicate in the mall. The employees are passionate
about what they do. Parry said at the prior location
he would take customers out to a mini-pipe and give
skating lessons. He also said in California and other
places, board shops have become more of a boutique.
"[We're a] specialty shop. I don't want to say boutique,
but that's what they're turning into," he said. He said
board shops in general are aiming for higher-quality
and better products, as well as employees intensely
familiar with the lifestyle of the store's clientele,
and that this movement has brought boarding of all types
into the main stream.
But there is a philosophical undercurrent to the store's
mission as well.
"It's [boarding] an outlet for kids who don't do high
school sports," Parry said. And that in a nutshell is
the store's motivation: provide a place, a store, for
a group of people in Logan. "We have kids we sponsor,"
said Parry. "It gives them an incentive to be better."
He said the store grants the sponsored skaters discounts
on merchandise, as well as recognition for their skill.
Parry said he worries about more national chains moving
into Logan.
"I think we would lose more of the service to the
community," he said. You start putting in the Zumiez,
and you lose that 'We've lived here our whole lives
feel.' We have one of the best skate parks in Utah in
Logan, and we need one of the best skate shops."
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