The Zoo York Institute is proud to announce that from July 24th-26th, the 2009 Zoo York AM Getting Paid (AGP) contest will be held at ‘Le Taz’ Skatepark in Montreal, Canada.

Presented by Monster Energy, Underworld Skateshop and SBC Skateboard Magazine, with additional support from New Era, Dakine, Transworld SKATEboarding, Exposé Magazine, 33mag, and Dose.ca, AGP is widely recognized as one of today’s most prestigious international skateboarding competitions for amateurs only with a hefty prize purse of $10,000 USD.

Established in 2004 by the Zoo Crew, AM Getting Paid is extremely important as it provides tomorrow’s pros with much needed support, experience and exposure within the global skateboarding community. AGP always brings out the world’s top ams to battle it out for the overall title and a healthy paycheck.

In celebration of AGP’s 5th Anniversary, this year’s contest will feature an exciting new jam format and move to the brand new 35,000 square foot ‘Le Taz’ Skatepark centrally located in downtown Montreal. Scheduled to open this spring, ‘Le Taz’ features a state-of-the-art indoor street course, lounges for competitors, media and VIPs, and it has plenty of room to accommodate the hordes of spectators and fans expected to attend.

So mark your calendar, because in four short months the 2009 Zoo York AM Getting Paid contest is on! Additional event updates coming soon.

To find out more, please visit: www.zooyork.com | www.amgettingpaid.com | www.underworld-shop.com | www.taz.ca

Support Your Local Skate Shop

It used to be easy to spot one of your own fellow skaters no matter where you were in the world. It used to be as easy as checking out what shoes they were wearing and you knew instantly if you were in the presences of your own kind. The main reason for this is because back then when you actually fashioned yourself as a skateboarder, you actually were a skateboarder. Nowadays I see posers as far as the eye can see, the general consumer market is saturated with skateboard products. Just take a stroll through your local mall and you will see that everybody wants a piece of the “Xtreme” pie. I was in Walmart last night and walked by a display of Tony Hawk doing a hand plant in the name of teen vitamins?

The whole thing really distanced me from skateboarding for awhile as I watched skateboarding trends and fashion be raped by the masses. I just find it funny that the same jock itch Idiots that used to shout “Skate or Die Dude” as they drove by in their Bitchin Camero’s are now sporting Hurley shirts and Etnies skate shoes. In my opinion skateboarding has been soldout and watered down leaving the workhorse of the skateboarding industry in the dust, your friendly nighboorhood skate shop.

Sadly there is no stopping the wheels of progress and I like a good deal just as much as the next guy and we have all sold out skateboarding to some extent but at some point you have to say enough is enough. The bottom line is SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SKATE SHOP! If your buying your gear online make sure it’s skater owned and operated like 360skate.com or try driving past the mall and visit your local skate shop, I mean there’s a novel idea, buy your skate stuff from a skate shop because thats where you’ll find the “real deal” and real people.

What most people don’t realize is that most skateboard companies will only deal with local skate shops or at the very least grant them access to products way before they will be released to the mall rats. Chances are the people that work at your local skkate shop actually skate and have either used the products your interested in or know someone who has. They are gonna know what’s hot and what’s not, what is crap and what is worth spending your hard earned cash on.

I came across this press release about Foot Locker trying to get their “foot” in the skateboard industries door.

Foot Locker Inc. said it will buy skateboard-apparel business CCS from Delia’s Inc. for $102 million in cash, as the sportswear retailer tries to capture more younger customers.

The skateboarding-inspired apparel market has been a bright spot as consumer spending dwindles in segments like basketball shoes. CCS sells products such as skateboard shoes, apparel and accessories — from brands including Volcom, Nike and DC Shoes — directly to consumers through catalogs and the Internet. The company expects to generate $80 million in sales by 2009.

Retailers like Foot Locker have come under increased pressure to adapt to teenagers’ shifting tastes, which have migrated into action sports like skateboarding and BMX bike riding. In August, footwear sales in both basketball and action sports categories were roughly the same, with action sports sales growing 30% to $300 million, according to SportsScanInfo, a market research group.

“We believe that expanding our offerings in the skateboard category will allow us to broaden our appeal to the teenaged male, providing an exciting growth opportunity for our company,” said Matthew D. Serra, the chairman and chief executive of Foot Locker, in a press release Monday.

The deal will allow Foot Locker’s “retail operations to have greater access to hot-selling skate products that have limited availability at some of the firm’s brick-and-mortar formats,” John Shanley of Susquehanna Financial Group wrote in a research note Monday. However, the firm remains “cautious on Foot Locker’s near-term sales and earnings prospects given the current macroeconomic environment.”