The Ledge Skate Shop

Shop Name: The Ledge Skate Shop

Location: Leicester, UK

Age of Shop (years trading): Since 2007

Brands Stocked: Nike SD, Adidas, DC, Vans, Supra, Emerica, Fallen, Converse, Trasher…

Website: www.skatetheledge.co.uk

The Ledge is an awesome skate shop right in the heart of Leicester City Center that sticks to their roots and offers a place for skaters to meet other skaters in the area.

How do you use social media to you advantage to promote your store?

We have Facebook and Instagram. We use these platforms to show our customers new products that we have in the store. Not everyone who ‘likes’ them buys them straight away but it shows our customers what we have to offer. Recently we found there has been a swing and that Instagram is becoming the better platform. This is because although on Facebook we have 2500 followers and on Instagram we only have 1000 (growing very quickly), Instagram always gets more ‘likes’ on each individual photo as it is purely about the products and photos. It is less saturated with adverts etc.

What particular product has been the best seller?

Nike SB and Adidas products sell really well but everything in each category seems to trickle out. Penny Skateboards are popular too.

What are the benefits of having a physical shop over simply having an online store?

Having a physical store means you get to meet the customers personally. Our shop is a place where people hang out. You could almost call it a youth club at times which is great because we now have a skate team.

What trends do you see upcoming?

Emerica is a brand that is becoming even more popular and we feel that good things are to come from them…. footwear and clothes. Levis are popular and maybe converse will be in amongst the next trend. Skate is definitely more popular and on trend.

What kind of advice can you give other independent retailers who are trying to compete against the big megastores?

You need to concentrate on your niche, like ours is skate and BMX. Many big brands have started to categorise the brand into different sections depending on who they are selling too. So you have to take your section and make that as sellable to your audience as possible. Us independant stores are small fish in a big pond so you have to stick to your roots.

Please tell us of any upcoming initiatives your shop has planned? (events, signings, re-vamps etc…)

We hold a ‘Go Skate’ Day every year. This year, earlier in the summer, we had a turn out of about 40-60 kids where we bought pizza and drinks for them and they skated outside the store in the city center after the other shops closed. It is a great event. We also go for a big night out in December with friends, team riders etc.