Travel Skate Shop
One of the best ways to ensure the success of a small business is to serve a niche market, providing a specialized service or product, to a focused clientele. Josh Ettinger, owner of The Travel Skate Shop located at 43 E. Cherry St. fulfills such a need. As he tells it, he didn’t choose to go into this business, it chose him. Working in NYC as a smelter of fine metals he would sell skateboards out of his car to earn the extra cash to pay for his own skating habit. He saved enough money to take some time off and as skateboard parks were starting to gain popularity, he was able to keep afloat with this side enterprise. After about two years he had the confidence open his first shop in Roselle Park. He lived in Rahway and noted how the downtown was changing and growing. When his wife brought his attention to an empty space on E. Cherry St., he jumped at the opportunity to be a part of the growth potential he saw in the downtown. For a few months he had both stores but soon discovered Rahway was the superior location.
An avid boarder for over 20 years, Josh is a street skater and sees the world as a giant playground. He travels with his skateboard, saying it is a great way to get to know an area. But he takes his business seriously and had his share of early challenges when he first opened up a shop. Having little retail experience, he had to learn by trial and error, establishing distributer accounts, and learn about all the hidden aspects of running an independent business. By staying consistent and listening to a growing community, all the moving parts of running the business started to fall into place.
Josh is a strong believer in the local economy and relies on walk-in sales. However, a strong media presence keeps Travel Skate Shop connected to a much wider community. He and his team keep his content fresh and Instagram followers bump him up the food chain establishing credibility and reliability generating positive sales all over the country. He saw substantial growth during the pandemic, as people had more free time to spend outside, and felt fortunate to have enough experience and an established distribution network to meet the increased demand. To get outside, or find that perfect sneaker go visit the Travel Skate Shop.