A family-owned skate shop is ramping up activity in a formerly sleepy shopping center in Continental Ranch.
I Am Skate, at 8641 N. Silverbell Road, opened in May and already appears to have a loyal following.
Drop by any afternoon and you're likely to find teens gathered in and around the store, scooting by on skateboards, trying different tricks.
The indoor ramp, on which patrons are encouraged to practice, is a bonus.
The store is managed by 2008 Marana High School graduate Nicholas Parker, 20, and is owned by his parents, Teri and Jeff Parker.
Nicholas Parker, who has been skateboarding since he was 13, said he used to talk to his friends about how sweet it would be to own a skate store with all the boards he could want, choosing what to sell to others.
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"I honestly didn't think I'd be 20 and still skateboarding when I started," Parker said.
During high school, he worked at a skate shop in Tucson, but he didn't go right into the business after graduation. He spent a year and a half taking business classes at Pima.
Things came together when his mom, who had worked in the financial industry for 25 years, decided she was ready to leave it.
With Parker's academic business knowledge, his hands-on skate store savvy, and lots of passion from him and his brother Andy, 19, the time suddenly seemed right to launch the new venture.
His mother said she was ready for the change. The downturn in the economy made it harder to do her job, she said, because people have lost faith in banks and big financial companies.
After years of hosting skaters at her home, sometimes letting them live with the family, she saw a northwest-side void that could be filled, she said.
"These are kids that society has a certain tendency to make judgments about: 'They're skaters. They must be bad kids,' " Teri Parker said. "Skating today is what bicycle riding was, when I was a kid."
It means transportation, fun and freedom to kids who can't drive or don't have cars, she said.
The family located the store near the skate park at Continental Ranch Community Park, 8900 N. Coachline Blvd., to make it more convenient for the kids who use the park.
The family is learning how to balance the family relationship with the business relationship, she said.
"Nobody wants to buy skateboards from a middle-aged woman who doesn't skate," Teri Parker said.
So it's her job to stay on top of finances, maintaining all necessary licenses and working with the landlord.
Nicholas manages the store while Andy, who has a full-time job as a welder, manages a team of five skateboarders the shop sponsors for competitions.
Meanwhile, the company made its business plan available for study by Marana High School marketing students, and the Parkers have been talking to Mountain View and Canyon del Oro high schools as well.
The property owner is happy with the extra activity in the shopping strip.
I Am Skate was attractive to the strip's owner, Canyon Community Bank - which also has a branch there - because it shares similar values with the bank, said Wes Veach, chief financial officer for the bank.
Both companies are local, like to support other businesses and like to be tied into the community, he said.
With the addition of I Am Skate, the shopping center is about 39 percent occupied, he said, but he hopes the added activity will draw attention from prospective tenants.
In the meantime, Nicholas Parker is just glad to spend the days with something he loves.
If You Go
• What: I Am Skate skate shop.
• Where: 8641 N. Silverbell Road.
• Hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
This story also ran in Thursday's Northwest section. Contact reporter Shelley Shelton at sshelton@azstarnet.com or 807-8464.
