When I was a spotty teenager growing up in South Wales in the 2000s, I spent my Saturdays doing spotty teenager things: slopping my enormous jeans around Cardiff city center, pouring five-finger-discounted bubble bath into the fountains outside City Hall, and drifting in and out of the skate shop in town where my friends would occasionally buy wax to help them grind the Brutalist concrete of the Welsh government HQ while I eyed up my next pair of Bernys. That’s also the first place I encountered VICE magazine, stacked for free next to issues of Thrasher and Sidewalk. That is, I imagine, the first place many people my age first discovered VICE, before it became a bastion of the (in hindsight, very brief) “new media” phenomenon.
Like all brick-and-mortar businesses, skate shops are no longer the epicenter of their wider culture. But—and it’s crucial that we continue asking this question—why not? Big jeans and print media are both “back.” Perhaps we’re also overdue a revival of the concept of “leaving the house” next time we need something. That’s partly why life-long skater, NJ Skateshop owner, and VICE columnist Chris Nieratko co-founded Skateshop Day in 2020. Held annually on the third Saturday in February, the goal, Chris says, “is to remind people of the importance of skateshops to their community & scene, to support them always.”
Skateshop Day 2026 will be held on February 21, and sees the crew teaming up with Image
Comics, Deluxe Distribution, and featured artist Brett Parson (best known for his work with DC/Vertigo, Tank Girl, and his ’80s skate comic Grommets).
Skate culture has been a cornerstone of VICE coverage since its inception, from our Let It Kill You video series about the intersection between skating and art, to Patrick O’Dell’s recently-revived Epicly Later’d—which, over the last two decades, has become objectively the best and most in-depth coverage of modern skateboarding. The most recent series features interviews with Don ‘Nuge’ Nguyen, Ben Kadow, Stefan Janoski, photographer Atiba Jefferson, and more.
So you can get stuck into all that, after you’ve paid a visit to your nearest skate shop. We’ve also rounded up some of the best skate stories from the last ten years for you below.
INSIDE JAPAN’S ONLY SKATEBOARDING HIGH SCHOOL
A BRIEF HISTORY OF SKATERS SMOKING CIGARETTES WHILE SKATING
PHOTOS FROM THE LAST DAYS OF PHILADELPHIA’S LEGENDARY SKATE SPOT ‘LOVE’ PARK
HELL AND MARBLE: SOUTH KOREA’S SKATE SCENE
HARMONY KORINE ON THE SKATE VIDEOS HE’S KNOWN AND LOVED
AN ORAL HISTORY OF ‘TRANSWORLD SKATEBOARDING’ MAGAZINE
HOW BALINESE SKATERS POURED THEIR OWN CONCRETE AND BUILT A SCENE
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