The surf meets the slopes at Arbor Collective in Pacific Beach.
This skateboarding, snowboarding, and apparel store at 936 Garnet Ave. is ideally situated to serve all the seasonal needs of boarders, whether they’re riding on sidewalks, streets, or in the mountains.
Since 1995, Arbor’s 28-year-old mission has been simple and unchanged; blend innovative construction, with aspects of traditional craftsmanship, and a steadfast commitment to sustainable materials and methods. Arbor sees this as the best way to deliver the performance and quality required for pursuing snowboarding, skateboarding, and the good times that happen along the way.
“We’ve been here just about five years,” said Nick DeNello, Arbor Collective assistant manager, noting it’s a seasonal business. He added, “Obviously, in summer we sell more skateboards, and snowboards are more for fall and winter. Though we do sell quite a bit of snowboards throughout the summer. We put them on sale.”
Arbor also handles repairs for both types of boards they sell. “For snowboards, we have a full-tune shop and we fix skis too,” noted DeNello adding, “If it’s not our brand – we’ll still fix them.”
Pointed out DeNello: “Snowboards are our bread and butter. There are not many places (on the coast) to buy winter goods. We hit a niche there.”
Arbor general manager Tyler Aishton said their clientele comes from all over. “We get people from Oceanside, Fallbrook, Escondido, and Orange County,” he said. “But the whole point of us coming down here (PB) is just to service the local community. No one does any snow stuff anymore. All the surf shops down here don’t carry snow stuff. So the brand (Arbor) coming down here was just a good fit.”
Aishton noted Arbor started out specifically as a snowboard shop, especially handling boards made of wood, which lasts longer than other materials. “Wood boards are kind of our specialty,” he said pointing out that “wood doesn’t care if it’s cold or hot outside, whatever the temperature changes are, wood has a better memory in it than fiberglass. And it’s sustainable, grown in America.”
Since the pandemic, the cost of wood has gone up substantially noted Aishton, who added that has translated into higher prices for both skateboards and snowboards. “A wood (skateboard) deck used to be $50 when I was a kid,” he said. “Now they’re $100 a pop.”
The store general manager said a typical skateboarder now spends in the neighborhood of $300 to $400 to get outfitted initially. Regarding the cost of getting started in snowboarding, Aishton estimated that cost to be, “At least $600 on the low end, and up to $1,000 on the bigger end. That’s board, bindings, and boots, everything you need to get up on the mountain and get your ride.”
Aishton gave another reason why the company wanted to come down to San Diego. “Everyone down here surfs, skates, or snowboards for the most part,” he said adding, “Once you move down here – you realize you can do all three of them.”
Arbor Collective’s demographic has also been getting older, noted Aishton. “For a long time our demographic was 26 to 40 years old,” he pointed out. “We still sell skateboards to the younger crowd. We have a specific line for those kids ages 15 to 30s. But the standard now for snowboarding is an older-man brand for people in their 40s to 60s.”
The split between snowboards and skateboards in the industry has also changed of late. “We were always predominantly more of a snow company,” said Aishton. “But the last few years we’ve been the No. 1-selling cruiser board, skateboard wise, for North America.”
ARBOR COLLECTIVE
Where: 936 Grand Ave.
Info: arborcollective.com, 619-554-0550.