Just in time for winter, Boardworks Tech Shop celebrated the grand re-opening of its new downtown location on Oct. 26.
The new location is now set up at 1215 Railroad Ave., the previous location of Man Pies. Johnny Lupo, owner of Boardworks originally opened the shop back in 2014.
“Now we’re in a really awesome, centrally located area right in the middle of downtown, so we are stoked for the opportunity here,” Lupo said. “Our biggest complication so far this season has been getting companies to remember we moved, which is a pretty minimal problem to have overall.”
Boardworks was previously located at 1012 W Holly St. They decided to make the move in April after the surrounding area became rough and they experienced a drop off in business, Lupo said.
The shop has a small employee roster of three and plans to bring on a fourth this season. Even with a small crew, they still manage to do more tune, repair, vintage restoration and custom splitboard builds than any other shop in the country, Lupo said.
The new space is designed with the Bellingham snow community in mind.
With our expertise we can talk you through the product that is gonna work for you, Boardworks technician Cole Wydrowski said. We take the time to learn most of our customer’s names when they come in and remember what board they are riding, Lupo added.
The new location is roughly double the size of the old location and includes a designated space for events like video premieres.
“To be able to show premieres in town is really special because that side of snowboarding has receded a bit and we’re trying to keep it alive,” Lupo said.
The shop features new bar top seating and plans to apply for a license to serve beer in January 2020.
Being a brewery heavy town we are excited about partnering with local brewers for events and video premieres, Lupo said.
The shop will host events like a free wax day for Western Washington University Ski and Snowboard Club members.
“Formally we always tried to do at least one event every month but this year we are shooting to do like three or four events every month,” Lupo said.
In addition to their tune and repair work, the shop sells a variety of locally sourced products. Everything on the clothing rack at Boardworks Tech Shop is local. Local clothing brands include Iron Street Printing, Whatcha Looking At Clothing, 122 Street Wear and Laser Pants.
Boardworks features local snowboard brand Damage Inc. and a variety of snowboard wax made in Washington such as Oneball, Booger Red and DFUnk Speed Wax.
The new location also has a fully functioning press room and the crew is in the process of prototyping their own snowboards. They plan to release their own shop deck line next year.
Whatever snow sport you are into it is really important to have a physical location where people can go and feel excited about snowboarding,” Lupo said. “In the grand scheme of things we are really stoked and there is not much that can break our stride for our plans this season.”
