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Sweet marketing music

Tanner Montague came to town from Seattle having never owned his own music venue before. He’s a musician himself, so he has a pretty good sense of good music, but he also wandered into a crowded music scene filled with concert venues large and small.But the owner of Green Room thinks he found a void in the market. It’s lacking, he says, in places serving between 200 and 500 people, a sweet spot he thinks could be a draw for both some national acts not quite big enough yet for arena gigs and local acts looking for a launching pad.“I felt that size would do well in the city to offer more options,” he says. “My goal was to A, bring another option for national acts but then, B, have a great spot for local bands to start.”Right or wrong, something seems to be working, he says. He’s got a full calendar of concerts booked out several months. How did he, as a newcomer to the market in an industry filled with competition, get the attention of the local concertgoer?

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by Beth Ewen
September 2006

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Retail

Pro skateboarder wants Familia Skateboard Shop to be center of local scene

Steve Nesser spent a lot of time crashing on friends’ couches in California and elsewhere around the world. He was trying to pick up sponsorships from corporations, first as an amateur and then as a professional skateboarder.

“I’ve been skating on the pro circuit for about four years now,” he says. “I spend all my time traveling.”

Now he’s opened a store, Familia Skateboard Shop in the Highland neighborhood in St. Paul, with a business partner who is also the Midwest rep for Podium Distributors, a popular skateboard brand.

The spring grand opening attracted about 15 of Nesser’s fellow pros, including the best known of all, Tony Hawk. Nesser wants the store to be a community center of sorts, where kid riders can meet the amateurs and pros they revere.

“I’m a really big family guy. We are trying to unite the whole skate scene,” Nesser says. “The skate scene is pretty strong here.” He travels to Mexico and South America a lot, and felt that ‘familia’ sounds more interesting than ‘family.’

His skating and his store work well together. “It’s a way to promote the brands I ride for,” Nesser says.

Skateboards sell for about $100 to $150. The big draw is the shoes. “Everybody wears shoes. That’s why we have 100 types of shoes on the wall,” he says.

He’s hired a full-time manager and another employee to run the store, while he spends most of his time traveling to skateboard tours. He opened the store with savings from his touring.

He hopes to keep the focus on skateboarders only, which he acknowledges might be difficult through the winter. “My source of income is now skating, not the store,” Nesser says.

That may change someday. “I’m 27, soon to be 28,” he says, adding 32 is about the top age for pro skateboarders. “If I can still skate the way I want to skate at 34, my goal is to keep skating.”

Steve Nesser, Familia Skateboard Shop: 651.698.7874; www.familiaskateshop.com