DE x UG Deck-Claration
The Story
From Dave at DE's Perspective
Things were kind of tapering off for me and DE. I think DE had the image and success it had because of being reckless, and moving fast and loose...
But for better or worse it was no longer sustainable ... and I knew DE, at least as a brick and mortar store, was nearing the end. I wasn't even too upset as I was feeling pretty jaded by that point.
At around the same time you guys were opening and it kind of reminded me of when DE opened and Intense Energy.. Another respected shop from back in the day in Nutley was kind of nearing the end as DE started to pop off... a passing of the torch if you will. I could see the writing on the wall that that was what was kind of happening here.
I was a little bummed but I also liked to do things to make myself and my inner circle laugh. I'd also come up in skateboarding during the era of Steve Rocco World Industries dis ads and graphics and thought I’d follow in that tradition. The super talented Joe Scordo and I came up with the idea of the 100% American Owned Skateshop tee. The ridiculousness of the whole thing wasn't lost on me. Obviously Mark was a real skater with good intentions, but I just found the whole thing funny so we ran the tee. Shortly after, I guess feeling inspired, Joe made an oil painting with a similar theme. It did kind of feel like overkill at this point but the painting was so dope we decided to run it as a board graphic. We ordered the boards from Woodchuck in Montreal and even made it a road trip to go pick them up. Here is the clip from that trip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Anyway, I'm stoked that all these years later there are no hard feelings and we can release it as a collabo. I'm stoked and proud of how you guys have carried on the proud heritage of the Jersey skateshop.
From Mark at UG's Perspective
When I first opened the shop I never considered it might affect other stores, I really just opened it for me and the want to start a business in skateboarding. So when I first saw that graphic back in 2012 it kinda hurt as I wasn't expecting this type of negativity towards me or the store. I grew up in an era where if you were a skateboarder you were automatically my friend as we had this common interest. So it was kind of hard to deal with.
My first reaction was to fire back at Division East, but as with all skateboarding and skate shops there is always a crossover on friends and skaters that knew both of us, so I really didn’t want to go down that road and possibly lose friends over it. After a few days I had calmed down a little and decided that I would stay in my lane, work on what I was trying to achieve with the store and hopefully not create a “shop vs shop” situation. I really didn't want that!
I guess it was the right path as today we are able to have a laugh over it and most importantly a hand shake!
Skateboarding needs more handshakes and hugs.
Then when the legendary Division East skate shop showed the board on social media a few months back I wanted one for the store to hang up on our wall, but unfortunately they only had 1. So after a few DM’s and calls and with the help of the amazing Joe Scordo on the graphic we brought it back in a limited run with a little twist on the original.
The End!
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