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Personal style and fashion have always been a part of roller skating culture, but today, there are more options than ever before to help you express your individual style on the skating rink. Skate manufacturers like Rollr Grl, Sure-Grip, and Vanilla have been putting out a steady stream of fashion-influenced quad skates that reflect the latest trends, from pastel colors to glitter finishes. But before you could find stylish skates in just about any material, color, and cut you could possibly want, skaters still found ways to trick out their skates. If you’re looking for ways to personalize and accessorize roller skates, we’ve got the inspiration you need. 

5 Ways to Accessorize Roller Skates

Boot or Toe Covers

Boot covers are stretchy fabric items that, as the name implies, cover your skate boots (the part your foot goes in). They protect your skates from wear and tear, keeping them clean and un-scuffed… Plus, they come in all sorts of fun colors and patterns, so you can definitely find some that fit your personal style. Polka dots, dinosaurs, unicorns and rainbows, zombies, you name it—there’s probably a boot cover version available on Etsy.     

Toe covers serve a similar function. They are typically made from suede or PU (pleather/vegan leather) and protect the toe of your skate boot from scuffs and scratches. 

Wheels

Skate wheels come in different sizes and hardnesses, and the right wheels for you depend partly on practical concerns like whether you’ll be skating indoors or outdoors, your size, and what type of skating you do. But when it comes to indoor skating at a skating rink, there are some fun wheel options that can spice up your skates. Bright colors, bold patterns, and glow-in-the-dark finishes are easy to find. Want to turn the awesome up to 11? Opt for light-up skate wheels that stand out on a dark skate floor. 

Laces

One of the easiest ways to change the look of your skates is to replace the laces. There are glitter laces, ombre laces, and much more to choose from. In addition to the laces themselves, you can ornament your skates with decorative lace locks or charms. You can even buy decorative wings (take your pick of bat, butterfly, or angel) that lace onto your skates.

Pom Poms

Another classic roller skate accessory is pompoms! Fluffy, colorful pompoms are a fun way to add personality to your skates, and can easily be changed out with the season or your mood.

Lights

As we mentioned above, light-up skate wheels are a great way to stand out on the skate floor and draw attention to your fancy footwork. But wheels aren’t the only place to light up! You can also install color-changing LED lights beneath your skates for a cool underlighting effect. There are even lighted toe stops. 

A new year is just around the corner, and with it comes the possibility for fresh starts, new approaches, and brighter days. With that in mind, why not try a new approach to your skating rink marketing in the coming months? Many folks are making New Year’s resolutions, so it’s an opportune time to promote the health and fitness benefits of roller skating. Check out these skating rink marketing ideas below, and let us know if you have any fresh and creative ideas to share!

Skating Rink Marketing: It’s All About Fun and Fitness

Customer Education

Because roller skating is fun and social, most people think of it as mere entertainment. But it’s so much more! Reach new customers and reinvigorate existing customers by educating the public on the many fitness benefits of roller skating. There are plenty of ways to do this, including: 

• Hanging informational posters around your facility
• Sharing infographics on your social media channels
• Giving interviews with local media about the fitness aspect of roller skating
• Writing about the fitness benefits of skating on your blog or in your email newsletter
• Placing table cards with skating fitness information in your snack bar area.

Cross Promotion

Another great marketing strategy is to team up with another business or organization in your area for a cross-promotion campaign. For instance, you could offer a discount to members of local fitness clubs in exchange for them promoting you to their members. 

You could also work with your town’s YMCA, recreation department, or school district to create an awareness program and get people to try skating for fitness. Offer to make appearances to talk about the health benefits of skating, or give a demonstration to show some ways to get an even better workout while skating. 

Is there a local yoga studio or CrossFit gym that you can invite to host an event at your rink? Doing so will expose a whole new group of people to your business, giving you the opportunity to create some new regulars. 

Classes and Bootcamps

One way to cater to fitness-focused customers is to add some classes to your regular skating sessions. In addition to the usual beginner, intermediate, speed skating, and/or artistic skating classes, consider offering a roller skating aerobics class, a “mommy and me” skating class, or incorporating skating games to get skaters’ heart rates up.  

Many people don’t realize the possibilities with roller skating, so you may also need to do some awareness marketing to let people in your community know that there are alternatives to tee-ball, soccer, CrossFit, and spin class. Roller skating classes, speed skating leagues, competitive artistic skating clubs, and roller derby leagues are the undiscovered jewels of recreation and fitness, just waiting for folks to discover the fun!

The Aero skates from Roller Derby are now in stock.  This is a classic looking black quad speed skate with a metal plate.  Sizes 4-12 are in stock.

We received a good shipment of the GTX500 skates and now have the black skates available in all sizes for the first time in a long time.

 

The Spinner skates from Pacer have arrived.  This is a very traditional looking black high-top skate very similar to the popular Rewind (at the same price).  Sizes 3-12 are in stock.

We received a small shipment of the Boardwalk skates.  We now have Blue in sizes 5-9, red in sizes 6-9, and purple size 6 in stock.  These are outdoor skates, they’ve been incredibly hard to find, we’re not sure how long they will last.  If the cold weather doesn’t keep people from buying outdoor skates, they might not be here long.

 

We are expecting a Vanilla Junior shipment, but it has been delayed at the port.  They are in the country, they’re off the boat, but it does NOT look like these will get here before Christmas.  We know a lot of people are wanting these, as soon as we know more, we will let you know.  But it doesn’t look like we’ll have them in time to get them to rinks before Christmas.

 

There is a new quad skate from Roller Derby that should be here soon called the Glidr.  The boot on these looks like a high-top basketball shoe and it will come in three different color schemes.  We do NOT have these yet, but they should be here soon.  The solid white version will be sizes 4-13, white with red in sizes 4-12, white with teal sizes 4-11.

The Aero skate and the Driftr skate are both now in stock.  The Aero is a very traditional quad speed skate with a metal plate.  The Driftr is a solid black skate from the new Rollr Girl line (similar to the Candi Girl).  Both are priced the same as the U774 Candi Girl Carlin.

We have two shipments from Sure-Grip on the way, hopefully early next week.  We’re expecting to get more Boardwalk, GT50, and the new pink Fame skates in those shipments.

 

We do have bad news on the Vanilla Junior skates.  That shipment has been held up at the port.  It is still on the way, but the earliest we can hope for these now will be VERY close to Christmas before they arrive here.

As we approach the last few weeks before Christmas, supplies are still pretty limited, but hopefully getting better. Here are some updates that might be helpful as we try to get supplies out for the Christmas rush.

We received two different shipments from Sure-Grip earlier this week. The Malibu skates are now in stock (all sizes) for the first time in a long time. The blue Fame skates arrived, and we still have the yellow Fame skates. The blue ones have outdoor wheels, the yellow have indoor or outdoor wheels (you pick). We received a few of the black Cyclone skates, which can be a good substitute for someone wanting the GT50 skates (which are pretty limited right now).

We have a shipment from Sure-Grip on the way that should arrive about Dec 10. This one will have some Boardwalk skates in there, but we aren’t sure yet what color or sizes will be coming.

We received several new skates from Roller Derby. The Ella is real similar to the Lucy skate, but with a design that matches the popular donut skate bags. The Astra is similar to the U774 Candi Girl, with a silver or gold glitter design. The Lilly is similar to the U772 Candi Girl skates, but with a fade design on the boot. One version is blue and pink, the other is mint and purple. Each of these are in stock now in large quantities.

Roller Derby also has a skate called the Drifter that is similar to the U774 skates, but in solid black and men’s sizing. This shipped to us several weeks ago, and should have arrived mid November, but the trucking company has messed up and delayed this thing for quite a while. It is currently expected early next week (Dec 7) but we are certainly not promising that considering all of the delays it has already experienced. Plus there is a second big shipment from Roller Derby we just found out about. We’re not sure what’s on that one yet, but it should also arrive around Dec 7. Once we know more on either of these we’ll be sure to let everyone know.

Vanilla’s new Renegade quad speed skates are in stock now. We have almost all sizes (red size 6 sold out very quickly) in blue, red, yellow, or pink. This is a great looking skate for the Vanilla fans. Right now most sizes of the Junior skates are sold out, but a big shipment is expected any day now. If you have customers looking for the Junior skates for Christmas please get these on order ahead of time so that you’ll be on the list to receive some once they arrive.

This year has been a great example of the saying, “Time flies whether you’re having fun or not.” 2020 has been a challenging year in many ways, which may be why people are so much more excited for the holidays to arrive. After all, who among us couldn’t use an extra dose of Christmas cheer or holiday sparkle after months spent stuck at home and isolated from loved ones? Fortunately, the year hasn’t been all bad… At least we have roller skating TikTok to keep us entertained, and some awesome new skates to put a smile on your favorite skater’s face. Keep reading for our roller skating gift guide to help you play Santa this season!

The Best Holiday Gifts for Roller Skaters

Deck the halls and let the good times roll, because roller skating is more popular than ever and it’s here to stay. Whether you’re shopping for a die-hard rink rat or an eager newbie, these holiday skating gifts are sure to put you on the “nice” list. 

A sturdy and stylish skate bag

Tying the laces together and slinging a skate over your shoulder is one way to transport them… But for the sake of the skates (and your back), a skate bag is the way to go. There are plenty of styles of skate bags to choose from, so you can pick the perfect one for the roller skater on your list. Make sure it will fit the style of skates they have—depending on how spacious or tailored the bag is, it may or may not be able to fit certain types of skates. For example, the higher boot of an artistic skate won’t fit in the compact bag of a low-cut speed skate.   

Useful roller skating stuff

When it comes to stocking stuffers, any skater will love a stocking full of useful roller skating stuff, like a skate tool, bearings cleaning kit and lubricant, toe stops, etc.  

Fun skating accessories

Stocking stuffers shouldn’t all be practical. There are plenty of fun roller skating-related goodies to add to the mix, like colorful laces, fun socks, light-up wheels, pom poms, and more. 

New skates, obviously!

Yes, we’re skating—or rather stating—the obvious, but any skater would be thrilled to get a fancy new set of roller skates from Santa. We’ve received a big shipment of new quad roller skates, including glittery Rollr Grl Astras in gold/black/clear and silver/black/mint and some incredible Rollr Grl Lilly skates in pink/mint ombre and lavender/mint ombre.   

Roller skating lessons or admission

Last, but not least, support your local skating rink! Roller skating lessons are an amazing gift for new skaters or skaters who want to learn how to take their skills to the next level. You can also give a gift certificate for skating rink admission. Combining a physical gift like skates with an experience like skating lessons makes for the perfect, memorable gift that they’ll remember for years to come. Shop small and shop local on Small Business Saturday, and every day!

We just received a big shipment from Roller Derby and wanted to update everyone on where our inventory stands on a few items as we approach Thanksgiving.

 

Rollr Grl Lilly – We received a very few pair of sizes 8 and 9 and a lot of size 10 in the blue/pink version.  The 8 and 9 will not last long at all.  The other sizes of blue/pink and the mint/purple version should be here soon.  This is the skate that is similar to the Candi Girl U772 in price and quality, but with a fade pattern that changes color from the front of the skate to the back.

 

Rollr Grl Astra – We received a good number of these in both colors (gold and silver) in all sizes (4-11).  This is the one that is similar to the Candi Girl U774, but with a sparkle design.

 

Rollr Grl Ella – This is the skate that is similar to the Lucy, but in a design to match the popular donut skate bags.  They’re adjustable skates, the small fits sizes 12Jr-2 and the medium fits sizes 3-6.  We received good quantities of both sizes.

 

If you have any of the original Candi Girl skates on backorder, you may want to give some of these new skates a try, they look great.

 

Those were the items from today’s big shipment, but here are some updates on other items as we get closer to Thanksgiving.  Please remember that all of these dates are estimates and very much subject to change as freight shipments are really unpredictable right now.

Sure-Grip Fame – The yellow Fame is in stock now, with an indoor version or an outdoor version both available in all sizes.  There is a shipment coming with the blue Fames and some Cyclone skates that is expected around Nov 27.

Sure-Grip Malibu – Right now we have mainly smaller sizes in stock, but there is a shipment on the way that should get us the bigger sizes.  That truck is currently expected around November 24.

Roller Derby Driftr – This is a solid black skate similar to their Candi Girl U774 in quality and price.  It shipped quite a while back, but the truck has been extremely slow to arrive.  The latest ETA we have on this shipment is December 1, but that is VERY subject to change.

Vanilla – We are out of a lot of colors and sizes on their Junior skates.  We checked in with them yesterday and they currently have an ETA of December 8 for a big shipment that should get us at least some of each color and size.

We’re not real sure what we’ll do with this yet, but we did sign up for TikTok.  We haven’t posted anything yet, but look for username “seskate” if you’re interested in following us.

Things always feel a bit bleak between Daylight Savings Time ending on November 1st, and “the holidays” officially arriving at the end of the month. The long nights and short days are tough enough during normal years, but 2020 has been a rough ride for everyone. That makes your holiday skating rink events even more important this year! As you plan your upcoming holiday FEC events, think about ways you can give back to the community and spread some much-needed holiday cheer. These are a few ideas to get you started!

Holiday Ideas for Skating Rinks to Give Back

Throw some holiday parties for your customers.

Show your loyal customers that you appreciate their support by planning some fun holiday events that give them a huge bang for their buck. For instance, you could offer buy-one-get-one-free admission, play holiday music, and give customers 2-for-1 credit for arcade tickets at your redemption counter. Instead of bringing in a Santa like you normally would for photo ops, get creative and set up a holiday photo booth or display!
Think about different specials you can run during your holiday event that will be profitable for you, but exciting for your customers. Examples include:

• Concession discounts, combos, or “family pack” deals. Add some fun, seasonal specials to your menu for an extra festive feel.
• Party booking deals, like a free upgrade to the next party package level only if they pay their deposit during the event. You could also offer bonus items like free cake, balloons, t-shirts, etc.
• Pro shop discounts. Do some in-house marketing about the value of “shopping small” for the holidays, and encourage customers to check out your pro shop for gift ideas like fashionable new roller skates, light up wheels, skate bags, and other goodies that rink rats will love finding under the tree. 

Team up with a local charity.

Most skating rinks, and many other types of FECs as well, tend to have very close relationships with local schools, so you’re probably no stranger to school fundraisers. But what about local charity organizations? If there’s an organization that’s close to your heart, or that serves the families of the schools you normally work with, consider teaming up with them to throw a holiday fundraiser event. Whether it’s raising funds for an after school program, donating a birthday party package to a silent auction, or collecting winter coats for a homeless shelter, you’ll be giving back to your community, and earning some loyal fans as well. Here are a few other ideas to promote holiday giving at your skating rink: 

• Put up a giving tree. Also known as “angel trees,” this type of campaign involves displaying a Christmas tree in your lobby with the names of specific children or families in need hung on the tree as ornaments. Customers can choose a name, and then buy gifts for that child. Learn how to set up a giving tree event. 
• Host a Toys for Tots donation collection site. You can even throw an event with discounted admission if people bring a gift to help drive donations. 
• Organize a gift matching campaign for a charity. Let customers donate when they buy admission and write their names on a paper cutout. Display your donor names on the wall to create a visual representation of how much money you’re raising together! (Just don’t forget to include a donation cap if you have one.)

Bones just notified us that they are doing a price increase on the Bones Swiss bearings, effective immediately. This is a popular higher end bearing.

Getting the inventory we’d like remains a big issue with many of our vendors. Here are some updates on what we have and when we expect more.

Sure-Grip: Several items have arrived recently. We now have the yellow Fame skates (with indoor or outdoor versions available). We have many (but not all) of the black and white Fame skates. We just received the pink Prism skates (again, with indoor or outdoor versions). The next shipment from Sure-Grip is expected about November 10 and should have the Malibu skates (among others).

Roller Derby: Several new skates are on the way, as well as some old favorites. The latest we’ve heard is they should start arriving here around Thanksgiving. The first item will probably be a new black skate from their Candi Girl line called the Driftr, then after that the other colors in the Candi Girl and the new Roller Girl lineup. The GTX-500 is our most popular item with them, more of those now have a December ETA.

Bones: Most items are in stock now. More bearings are on the way to us now, and we’re hoping the bearing tool will be here by the end of November.

Vanilla: We received a small shipment of their Junior skates last week, they’re hoping to get us a bigger shipment around Thanksgiving.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, it’s just a few weeks away. With supplies so limited now, it’s especially important to get orders in as soon as possible if you want to be near the top of the list once skates do arrive. UPS and FedEx are now a lot better about shipping the week of Thanksgiving, but it is still a holiday and they will not make deliveries on Thanksgiving. So it’s especially important to plan ahead if you want items delivered by the all-important Black Friday Weekend.

Games and roller skating are classic fun. Put them together, and you’ve got the recipe for next-level good times! When it comes to planning birthday parties, holiday parties, and other group events, it’s always a good idea to have some “secret weapon” skating games in your back pocket. They’re not only fun to play, but can also help break the ice, raise the energy level of the party, and keep everyone in your group engaged. (Not to mention the fact that friendly competition makes anything more interesting!)

Whether you’re planning a roller skating party or looking for ways to improve the guest experience at your skating rink, these skating game ideas should get you started. 

Roller Skating Party Games

Limbo

Is it really a party at all if you haven’t played limbo? This party game is a classic for a reason, both on and off the skating rink. Put on some good limbo music and let everyone shimmy their way under the limbo pole. It’s harder to do on wheels, which makes it a fun challenge. As you continue to lower the pole, more and more people will fall, taking them out of the game for the rest of the round. Limbo gives everyone a chance to show off their moves and put a personal spin on it, so it’s a crowd favorite and a great way to get everybody excited. 

4 Corners

For this game, you need one designated “caller” to keep their eyes closed, and however many players you want. All of the players will skate around the rink until the music stops. When it does, each skater must immediately go to the closest corner and stand there. The designated caller will call out the number of a random corner (1-4) and the skaters standing in that corner are out. Keep going until only one skater is left!

Relay Race

Relay races are a good team activity for when you have a lot of people playing, making it ideal for corporate holiday parties, private events, youth group nights, etc. Want to make your relay themed or seasonal? Have the racers pass off mini pumpkins (fake, in case they hit the ground) or balance a pumpkin on a wooden spoon, or use oversized candy canes as batons. The options are endless, so don’t be afraid to get creative. 

Follow the Leader

To keep everyone dancing and having a blast, you can’t beat follow the leader! As everyone skates around the rink, they copy the moves of the designated leader. Switch it up and let different people be the leader so everyone gets a turn. 

Do you have any surefire hits when it comes to skating birthday party games? We’d love to hear how you make the party experience memorable for your guests!