Skateboard shop opens in Beacon
It’s no coincidence that the logo for Premium Roots NY, a new skateboard shop in Beacon, looks like a graffiti tag. Owner Dean Acevedo’s choice illustrates the outsider status shared by skaters, street artists and also motorcyclists, hardcore punk rockers and BMX bicycle riders.
But the pastime, as subjective to judge as gymnastics, breakdancing and figure skating, may lose some of its edge after being accepted as an Olympic sport in 2020.
“I dislike the sportification of skating,” says Acevedo. “In the streets, we’re not competing, we’re not giving out scores. We try to encourage each other no matter what the skill level.”
The Olympic embrace could change the perception of die-hard skaters as slackers, vandals and trespassers, but Acevedo resents that Ralph Lauren has started designing boards.
“There’s a stigma against skating; they were never interested before,” he says. “Louis Vuitton made a skateboard for $2,000 or something like that. It’s a slap in the face.” (In 2021, Louis Vuitton sold two boards with a custom case for $58,500.)
Acevedo lives in Cornwall, where he opened his first shop in 2019. He added stores in Nyack and Brooklyn, where he works as a grip in the film industry. In November, he consolidated the two upstate outlets in Beacon, where his Chihuahua, Ryder, is the official greeter.
“I’ve put him on a board and rolled him across the room, but you can tell he doesn’t like it,” Acevedo says.
Premium Roots NY sells equipment for serious skateboarders but stocks lifestyle products such as T-shirts, books, hats, beanies, candles, sneakers and a skincare line. Boards with trucks and wheels attached run about $125.
The blue discs resembling hockey pucks are skate wax, rubbed on curbs or other surfaces to add skidding power. It’s also used to avoid “wheel bite,” which occurs when a wheel hits the underside of the board. The wax keeps the wheel spinning — if it locks up, the rider will tumble.
An old soul, Acevedo, 35, sells DVDs and VHS tapes at the shop. He also has published two issues of Grip magazine, which refers both to his day job and grip tape, which is sandpaper with an adhesive backing that covers the top of the deck.
During the 1960s, skateboarding became popular with surfers in Southern California who added roller-skate wheels to boards. It became more mainstream after the creation of rubber wheels in the early 1970s.
Some bright minds got the idea to skate in empty pools, which evolved into using huge half-pipes to propel themselves into the air and execute tricks. Tony Hawk, the Birdman, attracted attention in the late 1980s and skating intersected with fashion, hip-hop, tattoo and weed culture.
For freestylers (a term shared with rap), the goal is to defy physics, typically by jumping with the board, scraping across a surface, maybe flipping it for style points and sticking a landing while in motion. The skill level can be remarkable.
Scanning the urban landscape, freestylers size up the infrastructure for skate-ability. Curbs, benches, cellar doors and angled corners are alluring. Acevedo points out a long, narrow strip of concrete about 2 inches high and 10 feet long that rises from the sidewalk around the corner from his shop and provides inspiration.
“We’re always trying to use what we have and be creative with our moves,” he says. Other skaters like to bomb downhill at 60 mph, or just get around town, but they’re all tough crowds: Helmets are frowned upon.
“What I love the most about skating is that we represent all ages, all colors, all walks of life,” he says. Proving his point, Ophir Ariel, a filmmaker and the father of three girls, stopped by the store.
Ariel says his 10-year-old discovered his board, his 8-year-old wants to emulate big sister and the 5-year-old is also paying attention. He plans to provide them with the proper gear, which will include protective padding.
After Ariel left, Acevedo beamed. “You can go anywhere in the world and make a friend just because you share the love of skating,” he says.
Premium Roots NY, at 496 Main St. in Beacon, is open from noon to 6 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. See premiumrootsnewyork.com.
