When I first walked into Mexico City’s Peach and Bones Skateshop on a hot April morning, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
This shop had to have one of the biggest board walls I’ve ever seen!
Rows of boards spanned the entire left wall of the shop, all the way to a room in the back filled with old-school decks.
Just finishing a morning clean up of the shop, I met Pepé Ávila, manager of Peach and Bones Sk8shop.
I asked Pepé if he had a moment to talk shop. Here’s what he had to say!
Hey Pepé, tell us a little about Peach and Bones and how it began!?
Sure! Peach and Bones was founded about 17 years ago. How it began is actually a bit funny. The original founder and his girlfriend went to California for the Agenda trade show. At the show, they met the Santa Cruz Skateboards guys and told them they wanted to buy some boards to bring back to Mexico City.
The SC guys said alright and they started filling out an order form for their business. The problem was, they didn’t really have an established business yet, so when they asked what the name of their shop was, they made it up right on the spot! Then and there, Peach and Bones Skateshop was born.
Sick… Has your shop always been at this location here in CDMX?
No, our shop has actually had many issues with locations. We’ve moved three times over the years. Believe it or not, our first two shops actually suffered damage from earthquakes here in Mexico City! Our last shop got damaged pretty badly with the building having structural damage and we even lost some product.
Now, we’re in a good location and we have the most space we’ve ever had. At the moment, we’re in the process of remodeling the upstairs of the shop where we hope to expand our product selection even more.
How has skateboarding and skate culture changed in Mexico City over the past 17 years?
In comparison to the United States, I think Mexico and CDMX are essentially just behind by a few years. In the US, people have been building skateparks and bowls to skate since the 70s. Here in Mexico City, we really only got our first bowl like 10 years ago.
It’s only within the last decade or so that Mexico City has begun to understand that skateparks are an outlet for kids which can help keep them away from crime, drugs, and violence. So, we’ve been seeing more parks being built as of late.
In addition, the core skate brands have been around in the US for a long time. They’re established on a global scale now.
The good thing is, times are changing and skateboarding is progressing here quickly. Specifically, we’re starting to see our own Mexican skate brands and companies being established here. However, that doesn’t mean all these brands have reached the same quality as the American brands yet.
Many skate shops here in Mexico try to sell our local Mexican boards, brands, etc., but people still don’t necessarily trust their quality or seek them out like they do the American brands. I think we’re working on changing this.
What are the top-selling product categories for your shop?
For Peach and Bones, we really pride ourselves in our huge deck selection. So, our top-selling category would be decks, but we also have a ton of deck inventory. You’ll see that we’re one of few shops in CDMX that have really branched out into old-school decks, reissues, etc.
At the moment, we have the biggest selection of old-school decks in all of Mexico. So, this helps bring in that demographic of customers and helps us be known for something unique.
I noticed that your shop has a lot of great reviews on Google. Why do you think that is?
It’s simple, we provide customer service first and our staff consists of true skaters who care about what we do. When customers come in, we make sure we understand what discipline of skateboarding they’re into. We provide advice when it’s appropriate and frankly, we don’t try to “sell, sell, sell”. For us, it just seems as though people like that approach.
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What are some of the biggest challenges that your shop has faced lately?
You know, I have to say that some of our biggest challenges are actually around the customers themselves. If I’m being honest, some of the most difficult customers are those who’ve already bought a skateboard somewhere else, they had a bad customer service experience or they were advised on the wrong type of board, and then they come to us.
These customers can be difficult because they come into the shop with a negative impression and lack of trust beforehand. In this case, we just need to give a bit of extra effort to show that we really just want to help them either get what’s best for them or even just provide good advice.
You mentioned that your staff all skates. Is it hard to find and keep employees?
Very hard… terribly hard. So, we strongly prefer to hire skaters who are older. We literally want people who have wives, children, who pay rent, etc. We want people who have responsibilities. However, this is of course the ideal candidate. People like this who also understand skateboarding deeply and want to work in a skate shop are few and far between.
We have our core staff members and we work hard to make them feel that they’re an important part of our business and growth.
To find new job candidates, we rely heavily on friends and family connections. We generally don’t openly advertise job postings.
I noticed there’s a crazy amount of skate shops operating in this one small area of Mexico City. What is the relationship between these shops? This seems like it would create a really competitive environment without having tons of skaters in the area.
Haha, great question. So, it’s a competition. And, it’s a competition in multiple ways.
First, different shops sell different brands. Second, there are price wars. Basically, what we’ll see a lot is people who bought trucks and wheels at another shop and then they come over here to get just a deck. In addition, a lot of people will go to all the shops looking for the same product and just get it wherever it’s cheapest.
While I can understand why customers do this, it definitely reinforces the importance of standing out to customers in other ways and working hard to encourage loyalty to your shop. We try to be different by keeping the newest possible products in stock and keeping our old-school deck selection stocked up.
Besides that, of course it’s just good old customer service that makes people trust us and come back again!
What should readers around the world know about skateboarding in Mexico and Mexico City?
Well, I’ve been skating here in CDMX for about 15 years. What I’d say is that skateboarding in Mexico isn’t yet to the skill level of skaters in Brazil, the US, and Japan, for example. However, I do believe that Mexican skaters truly embody the idea that we are a “familia”.
On Go Skateboarding Day here, it’s incredible. It’s a true celebration of skateboarding with thousands of us who come together. We have some amazingly good skaters here, but we’re still developing to be recognized around the world for our skill.
In the end, it’s not always just about skill though. We’re a family and that’s something I love!
Awesome. Thanks Pepé!
Peach and Bones Sk8shop is located at:
Av. Insurgentes Sur 357, Hipódromo Condesa, Cuauhtémoc, 06100 Ciudad de México, CDMX, México