It's a Little Busy: Black Friday into Tampa Am

Posted on Tuesday, December 1, 2009 by Rob

By Rob Meronek

This is the first time we've ever opened up at 7am for Black Friday. We weren't sure if there would be 10 people or 100 people. This breakfast provided by Nike SB went almost as fast as the stuff on sale.

Things were pretty packed in the shop from 7am to 9am. Thanks for your patience.

The new kiddie course was being shredded for breakfast.

A 7am snake session.

If you're the nightlife type, every night during Thanksgiving weekend is like Saturday night. I stopped by Reservoir for a high five and sauce from Mama the bartender where I found Abdias. He was there every night.

Dave Cruz is in town for Tampa Am, too. Shots of Mama's special purple drank make you feel like a million bucks in the morning.

Brittany and Yonnie - hair twins. Catch Yonnie skating in Tampa Am on Saturday, then in the first part in the Dango is Dead premiere on Saturday night at Centro Ybor Muvico.

Don't ever let Mama know it's your birthday. You get a principal's smack for every year. Yep, those are welts from the paddle.

At least you get a free drink from a special cup.

It's been over five years since I met Francisco. This is Abdias Rivera's brother. Why isn't Pat Stiener in Tampa Am?

Lako is right in front of me right now neck deep in boxes from the ASS (Asian Sweat Shop - online order packing). Thanks for getting all those orders out in between smokes, Lako.

Charlene spilled a drink. Or something. Body is happy to help clean up.

This is the ASS (Asian Sweat Shop - online order packing) on Monday afternoon. This is a portion of the box pile that UPS is about to pick up from all your orders during the Thanksgiving Sale last weekend. Let's talk bid'niss for a bit. From 2004 to 2005, the month of November saw a nearly triple increase at 180%. From 2005 to 2006, we started to see a decline. Online volume was down 25% in November 2006. In November 2007 and 2008, things were basically the same level as 2006 - no change. Now in 2009, our November amount of orders is down 40% from what it was last year in November. Things have not been this slow since 2004. Lako is going home early on the regular these days. Going home early is great every now and then, but when you're constantly going home early, you quickly start to realize your lowered hours don't match your un-lowered rent, car, and electric bills. We sure would like to keep our jobs in skateboarding and not "mop up blood at Publix" as Lako refers to his last job. Thanks for your support and getting your stuff from us if you can't find it at your local shop.