Tiki Room

Riding that wave and showing the summer 09 Sole Tech footwear program all through Canada we thought that we would take a second and catch up with one of our favorite skate shops located right downtown Regina, Saskatchewan. Noel is always pushing the envelope and keeping it real in a smaller market…

Vp: How many years have you been in business and do you remember the first line that you every picked up from us?

N: The Tiki Room has been open since 1996, under the umbrella of World of Trout, which opened in 1992. I've been with WOT/Tiki since 1993. I've had this job longer than I had ever been in school. Whoa. Scary thought. We've been getting eS and emerica stuff from Timebomb since it first came out. I'm unsure of the date, but we carried Sheep shoes. That may help date things... late 90's anyway.

Vp: Your shop is killer!!! But at one time was there any killing going on???

N: Part of our building used to be a fur storage vault, but I am pretty sure the animals weren't killed on the premises (unless they were gopher skins). I personally kill it in our Saturday dice games... does that count?

Vp: I think that you carry every line that we distribute minus the snow goods. How do you keep it so sk8 core in a smaller market with out having to go into those other lifestyle categories (wake, rollerblade, laser tag)?....

N: We've been considering the laser tag thing, but...... at a brief point we had snowboards in the 90's. We carried skate/snow brands (Skull Skates, Shorty's, World) and I realized that I didn't know a damn thing about snow stuff. The overhead with snow stuff combined with my complete lack of knowledge of it solidified my choice to go skate only. I've been skating since the mid 80's, and consider myself a skate nerd, so keeping things pure is pretty important for me. When you're starting out, you think that you've gotta provide everything to everyone, but you're better off focusing on what you know, not grasping for dollars from everywhere you can.

Vp: Other than Freshjive and eS, what other Timebomb lines are you most stoked about and why?

N: I like the diversity of Altamont. There's something in there for everyone. It isn't a carbon copy of everything else. Their team is all over the place too.

Vp: Has Garret ever showed you the rebound in any of our sole tech footwear?

N: What's the rebound? Is that some STI lab shit? Garret who? (jokes)

Vp: Your Jimbo Phillip’s/Tiki Room skate deck and wheels colab has been featured in a lot magazines/websites. Really amazing design!!! What advice can you give to that smaller shop guy who really wants to push there ideas into reality? And “just do it” is not a correct answer….

N: I'm pretty stoked to have been able to wrangle Jimbo for this project. I've been a huge fan of Jimbo and his dad's (Jim Phillips) artwork for years. Regarding pushing ideas into reality: sometimes you just have to throw shit out there. If an idea seems far fetched to you, it may seem like a great and easy project for someone else. Connections also help. Talking to people and maintaining relationships is key.

Vp: Any last words?

N: Thanks to everyone at Time Bomb for the support over the years!