Today we’d like to introduce you to Ed DuClos.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Red Alert has been a staple skateboard retail store in the New Hampshire Seacoast for over 15 years providing an indoor location for patrons of all ages to come learn and enjoy skateboarding. Over those 15 years it has changed hands a few times until back on January 1 2016 the doors were closed for good. It had been a year leading up to the closing that support and management of the shop seemed to have collapsed and there were no thoughts of keeping the shop going forward. I at the time had been working as a software developer for local company and lived just a block or two from the shop. A good friend of mine was the owner or ex-owner of the shop and had given me his support if I wanted to salvage what was now a sunken ship. I’ve been skateboarding for the last 15 years and really had grown to love what Red Alert stood for and what it meant to the local community. I decided on January 22 that I would forego my plans to purchase a home in the spring and empty all my accounts to bring the shop back to its former glory. When I went into where the indoor park was I was immediately greeted by two men with destruction equipment who were ready to demolish the park to make room for storage units. After some tense negotiations with the current property owner, I was able to secure the facility and the park and avoid destruction for the time being. Now that I had stopped the park from going under it was a matter of getting all the logistics in order. I spent many, many long days and nights juggling going to school (I was a graduate student at Boston University at the time), a full-time job, and trying to resurrect a fallen business. Luckily, I had a great support team or friends and ex-patrons of Red Alert who with myself spent every hour we could, day and night, rebuilding the skatepark, fixing the facility and also creating a new store front. There were plenty of legalities that needed to be seen to, as well as, establishing new distribution channels and sourcing contacts from local representatives of companies to get their goods in the shop. There were some old relations that couldn’t be mended but there were also all new doors that opened as the excitement of a revitalization project is always attracting. Fast-forward to February 27th, we reopened the doors to the public and the rest is history. We’ve boosted our sales year-over-year 2-fold, re-built and modified the park several times, hosted concerts, events, contests, and even some barbecues here and there. It’s been 20 months since our re-opening and now we are expanding to a new location in Rochester NH that will provide a larger storefront, and a more modern indoor skateboard facility where we can really showcase what our vision of Red Alert is. This, in essence, is the real beginning.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
If the construction of a road were to be the comparison of a journey, then ours would be paved with dirt. There were only few moments where I could look back and say, “well that was easy”. All ventures that one takes on are fraught with difficulty, however nothing in my life could have prepared me for what taking on this endeavor would be like. From the very beginning where we had to negotiate with a very less than supportive property owner, who quite frankly, would have been happier to see the ramps burned then to give us a new lease on life, to the day-to-day struggles of keeping up with a very trend influenced industry it has been tough. In my opinion however, the greatest difficulties lied in the history and lineage of Red Alert, as it had been around for so long leading up to my ownership, that it had some existing baggage that was very hard to shake off. Everyone has a different personality, so with different owners came different styles of management, styles of product to sell, and different relationships with others. That being the case, when someone else takes over there is a level of entitlement that some people carry with them as if ownership changing is not a reason for that status-quo to change. This level of entitlement that certain people brought to the table when the new revitalization of Red Alert took place was arguably the most frustrating and difficult thing to deal with as these folks had made agreements and relationships with the previous owners and (understandably) they wanted to see those agreements carried over. It would be things like taking beverages and snacks and not paying for them, using the indoor facility for free whenever they pleased, not following all of the rules such as the ‘no smoking’ signs or garbage placement. I knew going into this that there would be some level of entitlement I would be dealing with, but never thought it would be to the scale it was. It took a long time break down that barrier, and even to this day I have to deal with it, however it’s a learning experience and all it means is you have to be creative when deciding how you want to deal with it. It’s the same as becoming a step parent I imagine. You come into a home that is not necessarily yours, although you only have the best of intentions for it and you really want to make it great and hospitable for everyone. Then you realize that there was history, understandings, and relationships well before you came into the scene. It means you have to be delicate and thoughtful about how you want to change things. Coming into the new home and making demands and changes right away just pushes people away and creates a bad stigma about you and your intentions. It takes time. I had to create relationships with people and show that my intentions were good and that I could steer this ship so long as they had faith in my objective. Over time when friendships and understandings were bonded, it was easier to ask people to follow these new rules and conditions. It’s still a work in progress, but my hair stopped turning grey so I think something worked.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Red Alert Skateboard Shop and Indoor Park – what should we know?
We’ve always have, and always will, be the true skateboarding scene on the Seacoast. That’s our goal and that’s what we’ve set out to do. Skateboarding is an industry that allows for people to express themselves however they see fit, which is one of its greatest assets but also one of its most serious flaws. I say that because in every corner of the skateboard world there are those with conflicting opinions on what skateboarding is, what brands are better than others, who is good, what being good means, and just this almost boorish mentality that if your opinion differs then you are immediately a kook haha. At Red Alert, we try to break some of those barriers but really just not caring what your image or style is so long as it is authentic and genuine. We won’t carry brands that we don’t support and we won’t follow trends to try and keep up with something we don’t care for. Our goal has never been to be the richest skateboarders, we just want to do what we love and we want to support those who we feel have the same ideals. I think it’s our image that I am most proud of and our closely connected followers and friends that through thick-and-thin have stood by us and our decisions. We’ve established an image in New England as being a raw and genuine skateboard scene that does not cater to the mass-establishment. I think that’s what sets us apart from others. Our mentality that we are not going to be another cookie-cutter skateboard shop that wants to appeal to every demographic, but instead, a skateboard shop that does what they love, no matter the cost, because it’s that loving what you do that makes something great. Not the bottom line.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
In the industry we are in the most important quality is authenticity. People know when they are dealing with a kook, and it’s a red flag right from the beginning. Like I said earlier, skateboarders are very opinionated and they are hard to sway in terms of what they like and support. That being said, most skaters will not discredit anything you support so long as they feel you are genuine about it. For example, I’m not a big fan of rap music which is a staple in the skateboarding world, but that doesn’t mean I won’t support the brands and the people who enjoy listening to it and want to express themselves that way, because I believe those who do it well are genuine and that means more to me than it does how good you are or how successful you are. Things are finite in life but the experiences and relations you build are infinite. So being a genuine person with good intent is the most important quality for me.
Contact Info:
- Address: 6 Grove St.,
Dover, NH 03820 - Website: www.redalertskateshop.com
- Phone: 603-343-4980
- Email: educlos@redalertskateshop.com
- Instagram: @redalertskateshop
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/redalertskateboardshop/
Image Credit:
Andrew Porter
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
