Knowing Your Neighbors: Damage Boardshop
DULUTH, Minn. — The hill that Duluth is built on provides a natural landscape for a variety of downhill sports. Once local shop that has been around for nearly 20 years has been watching and helping two sports in particular grow in popularity.
“We carry snowboards, the snowboarding boots, bindings, jackets, snow pants, goggles, helmets, mittens, beanies, you name it,” said Damage Boardshop manager Wyatt Lindberg.
Even during a year where it seemed like the only place to find snow on the ground was at a ski resort, Damage Boardshop in Duluth was there providing eager snowboarders with the gear they needed to hit the hill. Now that the slopes are starting to close for the season, the store manager says they are ready for the skateboarding season.
“As far as skating, just like with snowboarding, if you’re going to skateboard in this town, or anywhere for that matter we really have everything you need from every component that would be required to build a skateboard, protective gear such as helmets and pads. We carry all the shoes. Yeah, kind of just a full service skate shop as well as a snowboard shop. 2-in-1 combo,” said Lindberg.
Damage Boardshop opened in the Lincoln Park neighborhood in 2005. Since then, they have not only provided the gear, but also opportunities for people to meet each other and become part of a community.
“It’s so cool to see all these kids find, you know, new friendships through things like skateboarding. They could be maybe a loner at their school, but here they have a huge group of friends. And, as I mentioned, it’s such a diverse population. So you’re meeting people and hanging out with people from all different walks of life and you just get to learn so much about so many different cultures and backgrounds. And it really is just a beautiful community and I’m happy to be a part of it,” said Lindberg.
As happy as they are to bring skaters together, they are also active within the community in providing them with places to showcase their skills.
“We really try to bring the community together in a variety of ways such as hosting, like, on snow events at all the local snow resorts. We host skateboard competitions. We’ve done art shows, video premiers and the like. We’ve set up several fundraiser events for local skate parks such as the GND Rec skate park that should be completed this summer,” said Lindberg.
The store is currently shifting the shop over to skate season and with the winter that was lost, you may still be able to find some of their snowboarding gear on sale with the hope for more snow next year.
