The sounds of tools resonated from the back room of the brightly colored Action Board Sports building as Jim MacGregor assembled a longboard. On any given day, the smoothing of grip tape or tightening of trucks can be heard throughout the store.
—Editor’s Note: Photos depicting skateboarding were prearranged.
The sounds of tools resonated from the back room of the brightly colored Action Board Sports building as Jim MacGregor assembled a longboard. On any given day, the smoothing of grip tape or tightening of trucks can be heard throughout the store.
MacGregor, an MSU alumnus and owner of Action Board Sports, 541 E. Grand River Ave., decided to open the shop in October 2011 after he saw a need to supply the growing world of longboarding.
Today, the shop holds Michigan’s largest selection of longboards, MacGregor said.
Peter Croce, the marketing and brand coordinator and team manager at Action Board Sports, said the shop tries to balance recognizing where it comes from and where it wants to be.
“We know our roots, while wanting to push it forward,” Croce said. “We do want to make sure people know where skateboarding’s coming from and how that leads up to where longboarding is today.”
Although skateboarding is an individual sport, Croce stressed that the community aspect of skateboard culture is key.
“Skateboarding is an individual sport, and you don’t have to rely on anybody but yourself,” Croce said. “But at the same time, the community aspects that skateboarding creates is unmatched, I feel like, in any sport because regardless of how fast skateboarding or longboarding is growing, it’s still underground.”
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