66 BCBusiness OCTOBER 2016 lEfT: adam + kEv; RighT: phOTOs COuRTEsy Of pETER duCOmmun
eter Ducommun is not
sure that he's the best sub-
ject for a business maga-
zine feature. "To tell you
the truth, we're kind of
anti-business here," says
the 53-year-old owner of
Skull Skates, Canada's
oldest skateboard com-
pany. For Ducommun, or
PD as everyone calls him,
being a business owner has been a way to
indulge his passion—something he's been
doing since age 14 when he began sell-
ing grey market skateboard gear by mail
order from his family home in Nanaimo.
It's also been a way to help build a sense
of community among all the like-minded
hardcore skaters and, in the process,
spread the gospel about his chosen sport.
"We try and keep it as sincere as pos-
sible," says Ducommun in his smooth,
understated voice. "We advertise, but
we're just trying to bring people to our
doors. It's not like some companies who
want to crawl inside people's heads. We're
not trying to deceive customers. Our goal
is turn people into skateboarders."
We are talking inside the eclectic con-
ˆnes of Skull Skates' Vancouver retail out-
let, PD's Hot Shop, on West 10th Avenue.
Ducommun looks the part of the skater
dude—albeit one who has put a few miles
on the odometer. He's wearing black-and-
white skate shoes and a black shirt with
an elaborate skull design snaking down
one sleeve (written in capital letters at the
neckline is the word
SKUL). He's also got
on a pair of bag•y, tan-coloured skater
shorts that extend to mid-calf, expos-
ing scars from two injuries he picked up
while skateboarding. A six-inch metal
plate now holds his left ankle in place,
while his lower right leg is stabilized by a
piece of pipe screwed into the bone that
connects his shin to his ankle.
PD's Hot Shop is very much a re—ec-
tion of Ducommun's sensibilities,
jammed with a vibrant array of posters,
graphics, signs and art, rows of gleaming
skateboards arranged precisely on the
walls like art pieces, and racks of hats
and clothing, most of it black and white
and emblazoned with a distinctive skull
logo. The storefront itself, with its glar-
ing Skull Skates emblem, black walls and
creepy Gothic script, sits incongruously
sandwiched between a children's art stu-
dio and a French bistro. If the location in
sleepy, gentriˆed Dunbar seems unlikely,
it's just one element in a larger business
story ˆlled with improbable details.
Skull Skates has existed far longer
than any other Canadian skateboard
company and longer than all but two
U.S. enterprises. It's an amazing run of
longevity, especially considering that
Ducommun has managed this feat in a
notoriously volatile, trend-driven indus-
try and done it while ignoring several of
the standard rules for business success.
He claims that the lessons he learned
ConCrete PlAygrounD
(Clockwise from left)
Skateboarders cruise at the
Vancouver Skate Plaza;
PD's Hot Shop Nanaimo store
in 1986; a 1986 Skull Skates
ad featuring Peter Ducommun
and three pro skateboarders
