Front & Center
On DECK New skater-gear shop makes it easier to shred locally By Julia Stumbaugh
TRISTAN WILLIAMS
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n December 2020, a group of local youth took their case to a virtual City Council meeting. The goal: Keep the Charlottesville Skate Park open. The city had issued a release earlier that month warning that the park could be shut down if mask-wearing and social distancing regulations weren’t followed. In response to this threat, area skaters shared impassioned testimonials with councilors about the park’s benefits to both their physical and mental health, showing the strength of the city’s ever-growing skating community. For further proof of this group’s impact on Charlottesville, head over to McIntire Plaza and High Tor Gear Exchange, where co-owner Erin James has partnered with Jeneene Chatowsky to bring new skate gear to the local market. Chatowsky’s Charlottesville Skate Shop is a pop-up shop located inside High Tor, which opened in 2018 thanks to assistance from Charlottesville’s Community Investment Collaborative and is one of what James estimates to be fewer than 30 secondhand outdoor gear exchange shops in the country. When Chatowsky saw James’ and her husband/ co-owner Seth Herman’s dedication to lowering the cost barrier to outdoor activities, she knew she had found the perfect fit for opening up a friendly and accessible skate shop. “The beauty of skateboarding is that you can do it everywhere, anywhere, and you don’t need a lot of money to do it,” says Chatowsky. “The problem is a lot of these kids can’t get to the skate park, don’t have access to skateboards, don’t know how to do it, and don’t have people around them who can help them.” Chatowsky plans to take the next step in growing the Charlottesville skate community by collaborating with area organizations and businesses for support in getting new boards into marginalized communities and set up skating clinics for newbies outside the park.
“The Charlottesville skate community, and specifically the skate park, is very family-oriented,” says James. “Parents are hanging out there, kids are hanging out there with siblings. It’s a spot for people to converge and make new friends.” The skate shop is for everyone, especially young girls, say James and Chatowsky, who are both mothers with full-time jobs. They hope the opening of the new store will help more girls fall in love with what was once a male-dominated sport.
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Jeneene Chatowsky collaborated with Erin James to launch her Charlottesville Skate Shop inside James’ High Tor Gear Exchange in McIntire Plaza.
“We were the outliers in skateboarding for many years, and now to see all the girls at the park, it’s just so inspiring,” says Chatowsky. “For me, skateboarding has done so much for my life personally. It’s taught me how to be resilient, it’s taught me to overcome obstacles, it’s taught me to have goals and achieve them. Those are the things that I am hoping that I can bring or share with the community, because it’s changed my life drastically.” 434 27
