The current developing story in skateboarding is about all the changes that have been happening at Dwindle Distribution. The investment company that owns Dwindle has been making major cuts to staff and riders have been quitting. Dwindle is the home of Almost, Blind, Darkstar, enjoi, Madness, Monarch Project, and several other brands. I'm presenting what information is generally known.
Everybody probably knows the backstory of Dwindle, but here is a very brief recap. Steve Rocco started World Industries in 1987. Rodney Mullen left Powell Peralta in 1989 to join the fledgling company. They expanded in 1990 when Mark Gonzales quit Vision to start Blind. Natas Kaupas departed SMA to launch 101 in 1991. Plan B was started in 1991 when Mike Ternasky split from H-Street to form a new company with a super team. Mike Smith's Liberty happened in there, too. Anyway, skateboarding was a Rocco dominated industry for much of the 1990s with hot brands like Menace, Duffs, and the A-Team. Rocco packaged all his remaining companies under the name Dwindle Distribution in 1998 after setting World Industries free to be its own entity. As the calendar moved into the 2000s, new companies like Darkstar, enjoi, Almost, and Tensor were added to the fold. Some of the projects fizzled out and others kept chugging along. Such is skateboarding.
Australian footwear maker Globe bought Dwindle in 2002. They sold it to the Highline Industries Corporation in the summer of 2019. Highline is partners with Bravo Sports, who own Sector 9 and Pro-Tec. I assume Bravo is the overall current owner of everything. They are a portfolio company of the Transom Capital Group. Bravo is a sporting goods company based in Santa Fe Springs, California. They started as a wheel manufacturer in 1965 and branched out into producing skateboards, scooters, and roller skates.
I imagine this will end up being a major story as the year goes on and details become known. I doubt this will go well for a lot of skaters and industry workers. I do hope skateboarding journalism does a solid job reporting on the events as they unfold.
Transworld - August 1990 Volume 8 Number 8
3 comments:
The history of Dwindle from Transworld in October 2000:
https://skateboarding.transworld.net/news/dwindle-distribution/
"When I talk to Marc Johnson, for instance, I say, “Hey, we want to do a company with you, and build a future for you.” Marc’s gonna be a dad, so here I am promising this guy a future here at Dwindle..."
Which somehow through twists and turns over the years ends up as an infamous SLAP photoshop of Mike Carroll with a "delivery".
The amount of useless info skating has stored in my mind is to quote Chazz Michael Michael's is mind bottling...and I'm all for that.
I've got some history on Darkstar.
I'm also aware Darkstar is pretty much a black-sheep online, which I do find odd given their history.
Chet Thomas started Darkstar as a wheel company in 1997, but when the A-Team dissolved around 2000 Darkstar went into making decks, Darkstar "wood" division (late 1999). The A-Team riders were not carried over into Darkstar's "wood" team but remained (and were already a part of) the Darkstar's pro wheel team: Rodney Mullen, Gershon Mosley, Daewon Song, and Mako Urabe.
Post a Comment