Happy New Year!
by: Brink | Monday, December 31, 2007
Can ya believe it's 2008 already? Make it s a good one! Happy New Year from all of us at etnies!
Happy Birthday To Ryan Sheckler!
by: Brink | Sunday, December 30, 2007
Today is the big day. A very happy birthday to you, Mr. Ryan Sheckler. Here at etnies, we all heart you!
Club Tattoo Interview Series, Part 2
by: Alex | Friday, December 28, 2007
RB: So, that was for the second store?
SD: That was for the third.
RB: Oh, OK, cool. So, do you do tattooing?
SD: I do not…I do body piercing.
RB: Oh, OK…so, I guess…how long have you been doing that?
SD: 12 years.
RB: So do you actively do that? Or are you kind of…
SD: I only do it at conventions or to do like different photo shoots or poster shoots or stuff like that. I don’t really work at the shops anymore. I’ll do appointment basis if someone really wants me to do something special on ‘em. I’ll do that but I don’t pierce tongues and (unintelligible) and stuff anymore.
RB: Is it something you…I guess since you have been doing it 12 years that’s what you were doing back in the day…is it something you kind of miss at all?
SD: Yeah, I love it. To me, it totally grounded me to my client--not just my client, but Club Tattoo’s client.
TD: That’s how he ends up getting kicked out of the office ‘cause he’s not working shifts now. So he’s kind of still finding his way not actively piercing. It’s a passion just like tattooing or being a musician. Professional piercing is definitely technology, (unintelligible), math, a lot of math goes into doing some of those designs and year projects--things like that so it’s definitely not something people are great at right out the gates. It’s definitely a learned talent.
RB: Did you…let’s see…she cut you off here.
SD: No…
TD: Sorry, I always cut him off…
*Thora laughs
RB: So, I guess originally when things started…you said they took off unexpectedly…you were trying to find a…what do you attribute the success of Club Tattoo to?
SD: I think there’s a lot of facets to that. And to answer that, the first thing I would say would be the passion and motivation that myself and my team has. Were not a bunch of lazy people. I’ve never hired a bunch of lazy people so each individual that works here and has worked here, for the most part, has really contributed a lot to the whole ball rolling, so to speak. I wake up every day seven days a week and I work. I’m a workaholic. I always want to push this place to be better, cooler, innovative I always want to push the envelope whether it be piercing, tattooing, now clothing, shoes. I always want to make things better. I think drive would be…if I had to sew it up into one thing…it would be drive.
RB: So, nowadays with the increasing popularity of tattooing and piercing and the whole lifestyle and tv shows…I guess I’m sort of wondering in your eyes and this being a successful venture, what makes Club Tattoo different than, like, everything else out there?
SD: Well, we don’t take a traditional tattoo parlor approach; I think we take a very female-friendly art gallery approach to tattooing. So, we have more of the very upscale, hair salon/art gallery version of a tattoo studio. So right there we’re different. When you walk in the door, we’re different. We don’t have flash all over the walls. We don’t have dirty floors. We don’t have--everything is private. Everything is done to where you feel comfortable with the artist and it’s about your experience. You’re not put on display here when you come and get tattooed in front of fifty other people you don’t know and paying for the most part for your entire stay. We try to make it as comfortable as possible and I think that’s what’s defiantly different about us.
TD: The tattoo industry…we have pioneered a level of customer service, combined with professionalism, and a talent of the artist here that surpasses anybody in the industry and we have a team of people that do just the customer service; we have a team of people that do the tattooing and a team of people that do the piercing; and collectively they make the experience for the customer and the customer gets hand held from the moment they walk in, to the moment they leave. And we have a very loyal client base. And we’re good to them and they pay us respect and loyalty in return.
SD: That’s a good point too. The loyalty of our client base, I would have to say, is definitely different from what most tattoo studios would have.
TD: Most of our tattoo artists have been working here for many years; we do not really have a high turnover. People come here to build careers. That makes a very big difference to the clientele. Our artists are very serious about their work, they’re very serious about their positions at Club Tattoo and they are building their careers here as well. So that also helps build clientele trust and loyalty because they know that their artist is going to be there maybe in six months or a year when they want to bring a friend back or come back and get some more work, we’re here for them. Reliability is a big one in this business. To have reliability makes you stand apart.
RB: One thing you just touched on earlier is you said that this shop has sort of a more feminine…
*Thora laughs
SD: female friendly!
TD: female friendly!
RB: But, I was kind of walking around and I was going to ask you earlier before we were rolling but I wanted to say that like it seems almost like it’s, I thought it might have almost been sort of designed and laid out by a woman…I don’t know if that’s...
*Thora laughs over talking
SD: NO, not at all!
RB: But it has a touch to it that’s sort of soft.
SD: We’ll she’s defiantly helped in the design of the whole atmosphere, without a doubt.
TD: You know, as far as being a woman in this business…it is a predominately male environment, however the predominate percentage of client is female. So if the women are happy, the men are happy. If the women come, the men will come. Women generally spend their own money and they spend their man’s money so just the shop-ability, where you place garments things like that--and that’s another thing that set us apart from most of the tattoo industry. We offer full body connection. You can do tattooing, piercing, you can come and pick up some great accessories, clothing. That brings a twist to the tattoo business that really isn’t out there, so…
RB: I could just tell right away when I walked in, I could just…it had a sort of female touch that’s not overdone…sort of nurturing or something.
SD: Homey…
TD: Well, thank you.
RB: Yeah
SD: It makes you feel comfortable.
RB: So, back to something else…you were talking about the loyalty of your customers…I just wanted to ask about…like, so…how much does sort of Chester’s affiliation with Linkin Park, and all that, come into play as far as the success of the shop?
SD: Not much.
*Thora laughs
RB: It seems like it’s not that big of an issue…
SD: It’s not, we don’t play into it a whole lot, to be honest. Chester got involved because we’re close friends. As soon as Chester got involved, we didn’t put a big sign out front that says Club Tattoo owned by Chester Bennignton of Linkin Park.
TD: Owned by a rock star (said over Sean)…yeah
SD: We don’t use that because we don’t have to use that…
RB: Yeah
SD: …and I think what’s funny now…
TD: (speaks over Sean-unintelligible)
SD:…Chester is like, “Hey, we can do this,” and I’m like, “No we don’t need to do that.” You know when we’re promoting an event or a concert or something like that, then we’ll pull that tie in. Ya know? When we really need to tap into people outside of our immediate area, I guess…for people, like in California or Utah, then Chester comes in very handy because of his media savvy…his media plug-ins. But as far as everyday business, we don’t use that a lot.
RB: Well that’s what it seems like and I think probably people, as you guys grow, might…people who aren’t around here, or whatever, don’t know the whole story might get the wrong impression…
SD: Oh, we get that all the time
TD: And that’s OK…and that’s OK (A second time…over Sean)
SD: They think it’s a success because of that, but at the end of the day as long as the business is successful, who cares the reason why? So if that’s what somebody thinks, then so be it.
RB: Well, once people learn about the business, at some point they’re going to learn that that’s not the case anyway, like with this interview, for example.
TD: Right
SD: Like I said, either way, it don’t matter to us. As long as people see it as a success and see what we’re actually offering, what we’re bringing to the industry, that’s what’s important. It’s not about me getting credit for anything, or me getting patted on the back--oh, he didn’t do this or she didn’t do this--it’s about, well, we all did this collectively. So, you know, cool. As long as you think it’s cool, as long as you get what we are doing, then awesome. Then I don’t care who you think is responsible.
Stay tuned for Part 3!
GvR '07 On Fuel TV Tonight!
by: Brink | Friday, December 28, 2007
Tonight is the first showing of this year’s etnies GvR on Fuel TV! It will premiere at 8pm, in their Skate @ 8 block! Then it'll re-air a bunch! Watch or die!
etnies GVR 2007 Air Dates
Friday 12/28/2007 8:00pm ET / 5:00pm PT - Premiere
Friday 12/28/2007 11:00pm ET / 8:00 pm PT
Saturday 12/29/2007 8:00am ET / 5:00am PT
Saturday 12/29/2007 2:30am ET / 11:30pm PT
Saturday 12/29/2007 4:30am ET / 1:30am PT
Sunday 12/30/2007 8:00am ET / 5:00am PT
Sunday 12/30/2007 8:30pm ET / 5:30pm PT
Sunday 12/30/2007 11:30pm ET / 8:30pm PT
Monday 12/31/2007 4:30pm ET / 1:30pm PT
Monday 12/31/2007 1:30am ET / 10:30pm PT
Monday 1/7/2008 8:30pm ET / 5:30pm PT
Monday 1/7/2008 11:30pm ET / 8:30pm PT
Tuesday 1/15/2008 5:00pm ET / 2:00pm PT
Thursday 1/24/2008 3:30am ET / 12:30pm PT
Friday 1/25/2008 8:30pm ET / 5:30pm PT
Friday 1/25/2008 11:30pm ET / 8:30pm PT
New Bones Site!
by: Brink | Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Have you checked out the new Bones Wheels site yet? Lots of new stuff, and since Ryan Sheckler and Ronnie Creager ride for Bones, expect to see more of them too.
Hows About Some Axel & Dietrich Footage!
by: Brink | Wednesday, December 26, 2007
We just got a buttload of footy in from our Euro team guys and wanted to show it off a bit. Today you get a little Axel Cruysberghs and Dominic Dietrich. Stay tuned for more from the rest of the team!
Very Happy Holidays From etnies!
by: Brink | Monday, December 24, 2007
Happy Holidays to you, your friends and family from etnies! Thanks for all your support!
Elissa in Hawaii!
by: Brink | Friday, December 21, 2007
So etnies was in Hawaii last week shooting some surf catalogs, when all of a sudden Elissa Steamer and her friend Lyndsey (formerly of Thrasher magazine) randomly show up at the resort. turns out Elissa still had a free trip to anywhere in the world waiting to be used from a Vans contest she won back in 2003. Must be nice, right?
So whatevs... we all chilled. Dinner and dessert followed by a few mellow hours in the hotel lounge. Only a few moments in, a surfer bro known as "Dozer" started makin' some moves on the ladies. Perhaps his game wasn't on point, perhaps he'd had one too many, perhaps this is some new technique I've yet to learn, but it wasn't long before his ass was all up in Elissa's face and stuff got weird. Needless to say, honestly, mooning is never not funny.
GvR '07 On Fuel!
by: Brink | Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Be sure to mark on your calendars that the first showing of this year’s etnies GvR on Fuel TV! It will premiere on Sunday, December 28th, at 8pm, in their Skate @ 8 block! Nice!
Arto & Analog: Tour Video!
by: Brink | Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Javier Mendizabal's Art! Free Cliche Deck & etnies!
by: Brink | Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Javier Mendizabal is one of our favorite etnies Euro team riders. And he's part of an art show in Barcelona, Spain from Nov. 30 – Dec. 21 @ Ikara Skateshop, C. Urgell 82 Barcelona. Supported by etnies and Cliché. Check it out if you can! Here's a map!
We're also giving away an etnies and Javier/Cliché prize pack featuring a Cliché Mendizabal deck, tees and a pair of etnies shoes to the person with the most entertaining review of that video up there. Go for it right here via comment!
In Javier’s words:
"Que Corra El Aire" is a photo, painting, sculpture, poetry, friendship exhibition that Fernando Elvira and me are organizing in our old friend Lee´s gallery and shop in Barcelona. I know Fernando since I was a teenager playing around with me skateboard and he was the editor of the main skate magazine in Spain at that time. He was already super creative in every single way, taking photos, playing music in a band, painting, traveling non stop... he was definitely a hero for me and a big influence. We became really good friends from the first second despite the gap of age, skating together everyday and introducing me in a really artistic world with a lot of people doing a lot of things. He gave me when i was 18 my first photo camera, the one that i still have and the one with i have taken most of the pictures in this show. We have been in many many adventures since then and we are always planing trips or different missions like this exhibition. "QUE CORRA EL AIRE " wants to show our friendship, our trips, our lifestyle... It´s our first art show together but not the last one for sure!"
Rachid Addou Nails 2nd!
by: Brink | Tuesday, December 18, 2007
- Rachid Addou. KF backlippy
Dutch etnies rider, Rachid Addou, finished second at Dutch championship!
Last weekend the Dutch skateboarding championships were held at Area 51 in Eindhoven. Dutch etnies rider, Rachid Addou, was rocking it all weekend with switch lipslides and switch tailslides on handrails and ended up taking second place!
Fellow riders Nelson Mosikili and Hessel van der Veer were also competing in the finals in Eindhoven. Nelson ended in seventh and Hessel in ninth. That's three etnies riders in the top ten, not a bad weekend for etnies in the Netherlands!
FREE 2-3 Day Shipping Limited Time Offer!
by: Alex | Tuesday, December 18, 2007
FREE 2-3 day shipping on any purchase amount! Our new apparel's in stock now so hurry up and order by the 19th... yeah, that's tomorrow so get on it already!
Gee, Thanks Ronnie!
by: Brink | Monday, December 17, 2007
Ronnie Creager decided to give TransWorld some footy of him ripping in AZ and not us. As sad as it makes me, I still want you to go watch it. Hey Ronnie, you owe us one now!
New Club Tattoo Shoes & Contest!
by: Alex | Friday, December 14, 2007
The masterminds behind the tat-inspired Bernie and Fakie are at it again. New, for Spring '08, etnies and Club Tattoo have four all new designs to feed your need for wearable art. Available in January to the rest of the world, the new Fleet, Fader, Chambosa and Lo-Pro-Baller are just waiting to be won now! Check out the details and enter to win here.
Stay tuned for exclusive interviews with Sean, Thora and Chester.
Doin' It For The Kids
by: Alex | Thursday, December 13, 2007
For four merry hours yesterday, busloads of kids descended upon the etnies Skatepark for our 4th Annual etnies Holiday Festival. This year's guests were welcomed by etnies and Sole Technology founder/CEO Pierre André Senizergues and Santa Claus, both of whom took to their skateboards and showed the young'uns that they've still got it.
Then it was onto the craft booths for coloring, cookie decorating, jewelry making and ornament painting. They also enjoyed demos in the park by their favorite pros including Ryan Sheckler, Kyle Leeper and our girl Lauren Perkins. Also spreading the holiday cheer was Brian Deegan.
Thanks for making it out, everyone! For more on the festivities... check out our photo gallery!
Thanks, also, to the good people at our participating charities:
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County
Human Options
Girls & Boys Town of Southern California
Orangewood Children's Foundation
Boys & Girls Club - Garden Grove
Boys & Girls Club - Westminster
Boys & Girls Club - Santa Ana
Stop Child Abuse Prevention Center
OC Rescue Mission - House of Hope
Bona Vita Center for Children
Healthy Tomorrows
More Feast Footage!
by: Brink | Thursday, December 13, 2007
Flip's got some more footage from Feast's Portland stop, and a few Feast video mixes up for you to check out!
More Feast!
by: Brink | Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Flip sent us some footy from the Feast West Coast Tour Fresno and Medford stops!
etnies Online Gift Cards Available Now!
by: Alex | Monday, December 10, 2007
Rune Gets 2nd in Dubai!
by: Brink | Sunday, December 9, 2007
Congrats to out vert soldier, Rune Glifberg, for his second place finish at X Games in Dubai this weekend! Rune even decided to go all-terrain and enter the street contest, placing in 10th! Nice one, Rune!
Feast Video!
by: Brink | Friday, December 7, 2007
Flip's Feast West Coast tour is a wrap, but that doesn't mean there won't be some killer footage on the way. Have a peek at a few teasers and stay tuned next week for more video from the tour!
The Final Sheckler X Games Video!
by: Brink | Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Flow Boy Gregson!
by: Brink | Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Check out our favorite flowster, Chris Gregson in his first-ever feature interview! It's in Bliss magazine, December '07 issue if you live in SoCal and can get your hands on it.
New Sheckler Phone Update...
by: Alex | Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Yes, of course Ryan's tired from running through your mind all night, but check out the official Ryan Sheckler Phone Update, numero dos, to see what he's really been up to.
etnies Goes Dutch With Racoon!
by: Alex | Monday, December 3, 2007
Vote For etnies!
by: Alex | Monday, December 3, 2007
We've been nominated! etnies is a contender for Footwear Plus Magazine's 2007 Plus Award for Design Excellence in the Action Sport/Lifestyle category. Voting is super easy with the Footwear Plus online ballot so hurry up and cast your vote for etnies.
Our Boys in the Mags!
by: Brink | Monday, December 3, 2007
For those of you who are in the know, you should check out Rune Glifberg in the latest issue of For The Krew magazine and Kyle Leeper in the latest Concussion. If you have no friggin' clue what I'm talking about, that's probably 'cuz these mags aren't available anywhere near your area. Sucks to be you, huh?
