Out in Arizona there’s a new shop that’s making its mark at events and across social media, and that outfit is Kulture Ride Supply. Owner/Partner Bobby Dixon has come out of blading retirement like so many fellow skaters that were part of the boom generation, but thanks to his expanding family, he and the kids have found their way back to the skatepark, where Bobby’s passion has been reignited. This time it’s gone beyond getting clips and enjoying a session — it lead to a physical skateshop. We tapped friend of the shop Andrew Scherf to help put together questions to help introduce Bobby and the shop to everyone, so read on to learn more about KRS and the team that’s making it happen.

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Hey Bobby, thanks for taking time to check in with us about all the stuff you’ve got going on at Kulture Ride Supply. Let’s start at the beginning: What inspired you to open a skate shop, even more so, one in Prescott, AZ?

You know, that’s a great question. I’ve been fortunate enough in life to have had some good business success with my other businesses. Which, while I worked extremely hard to achieve, I am very grateful for it as well. That said, when I decided to start blading again, I wanted to combine two of my greatest passions; business and rollerblading. There’s a saying I live by, “love what you do, and never work a day in your life.” I love blading, and I love business, so it’s pure enjoyment for me. No work involved.

When did the shop open?

Originally, I was going to just do an online store. I started putting that together about a year ago. Then, I got to talking one day with a good friend who is a skateboarder and owned a 6-years-standing skateboard shop in my town, and we decided to partner up and make the shop a combined action sports store. As of today, we carry rollerblades, skateboards, scooters, snowboards, clothing, shoes, and accessories. We are working on getting a Nike and Vans contract and will eventually bring on bmx and mountain bikes.

Has the market interest shifted between the various sports you service? Like, did the blade boom of 2020 impact your shop?

The 2020 boom did give us a good boost. But overall, everything has been steady, and steadily growing. Right now, our biggest focus is growing our online presence. Being established for 7 years now, our walk in business is pretty consistent.

What would you say is the most commonly purchased item in the shop?

Definitely wheels, bearings, and replacement parts. That goes for all sports.

Tell us a bit about your blading past—we see you shredding on Instagram. Have you been blading for a long time? Did you ever take a break, and if so, what brought you back?

I’ve got the infamous “I quit for 20 and then started back up” thing going on, lol, but I started blading back in the early ‘90s. I was learning to blade while blading was still being pioneered. I skated for about 7 years, and then once I became a senior in high school, work and a girlfriend lead me astray from blading. Which, I truly regret. I mean, everything works out the way it does for a reason. But, now I feel my blade clock is ticking at 40 years old—haha. However, I’m absolutely loving every minute of it. I ended up starting to skate again because I have 3 young sons. In February of 2021, they wanted to start going to the skatepark. The next thing I knew, I built a home skatepark, purchased over 20 pairs of skates, and opened a shop.

Where and who did you skate with back then?

I was fortunate to have gone to high school with Dustin Latimer and Kevin Gillan. So I got the opportunity to skate with them some, and also legend Seth Minor back in the day. Watching those guys skate back then was very inspiring. But my closest friends at that time were Kyle Smith, Danny Berns, Eric Sims and David Sims. None of us had cars, and at that time there weren’t skateparks in Arizona (besides one indoor park), so we would take the city bus or skate miles just to skate one rail or ledge. Uphill both ways, just like all our parents did in the snow.

What skaters give you the most inspiration and motivation, from either the old or new generation?

I love this question, honestly, because there are so many skaters that truly motivate and inspire me. But I’ll try to keep the list as short as possible. For style, I love the way Vinny Minton skates. Everything is so flawless and steezy. I also love our team rider Josh Acosta’s style. The way he comes on and off grinds is just so damn good. He’s got a very stylish and distinguished way of skating. I love it. When it comes to droppin’ hammers, Demetrios George. That guy is an animal. For skaters catching big air, hands down Air Damon. His style in the air is what does it for me. Regarding skating at a high level with longevity, is there anyone above KRS team rider Craig Parsons? I’m not sure there is. Dude is almost 50 and skates like he’s 25. I sure hope my body can hold up that long! When it comes to overall greatness and pioneering of the sport, for me it’s Dustin Latimer. The dude was so far ahead of his time in his day, and going so big. Anything he ever did looked good. For their overall greatness and contribution to the sport, Jon Julio is the man. He’s been committed to blading and the growth of the sport through its best and its worst. It’s very admirable. Some of my other favorite bladers are Rachard Johnson, Montre Livingston, Franky Morales, Alex Broskow, Brian Aragon, and Chris Haffey. I could go on and on though, haha.

You sponsor a wide array of bladers from all over the county. How do you decide who to roll with?

There are actually several dynamics that I consider. The MOST important to me though is that they are a team player and are a positive influence to other skaters in the community. But the other things I consider are the long term contribution to the sport and, obviously, skill. All of the guys riding for us have been killing it for so long with nothing but a positive impact on blading. I feel honored to have them skating for us.

How about events and contests, what sort of role do they play for the shop? Any plans for attending any other events/contests?

I absolutely love attending events and contests. I wish I could make them all. The ones we have done have been extremely beneficial for the shop. We try to sponsor the majority of them. But it’s my goal to make it to 4-8 events at minimum per year. For the rest of this year I plan to attend FMI3, Blading Cup, Texas Blade Classic, and BPSO at minimum. If time will allow me to make some others, I definitely will.

Anything else we should know about—now’s the time to let us know!

One of the things I’m working on putting together is doing some youth weekend camps/skate training events. Right now the majority of the blading community consists of older adults in their 30s and 40s, which is great! I love seeing the retired bladers get back into it! But the reality is that we really need to get the sport promoted to more youth to grow the sport long term. Right now, the youth sees lots of scootering from other youth. So what do they do? They scooter. If more youth was blading, their peers would blade too. Just like most of us did in our youth. So in my opinion, I think our community, myself included, needs to put a greater focus on inspiring and promoting to the youth. That is ultimately what will take rollerblading to the next level.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to do this! I love this sport and everyone in it. It’s such a huge part of my life. There’s no community like the blading community.

[The END]

Photos by Kyle Smith