Vanilla Skate is introducing a new color scheme to their Junior line. The Chuck Parsley skates are white with black and gold. They’re available in sizes 3-13 and are in stock now and ready to ship out.
They’re also introducing a new backpack in red or grey that are now available. They’re working on a blue version but we don’t have the blue quite yet.
The Era is Uniq’s quad speed skate with features like a composite outsole and microfiber uppers that are normally only found on skates at higher price points. One creative thing they did is make a tongue flap that’s totally removable. Because it attaches with velcro, and isn’t permanently stitched on, you can easily replace the tongue flap. They now have replacement flaps coming in eight different color schemes. This will let you change up the look of the entire skate for just the cost of a tongue flap. We have the Era skates in stock now, the replacement tongue flaps should be here very soon.
We received a good shipment of rental skates from Pacer. We now have almost all sizes of the Excel inline rentals (we’re missing size 4) and the Vintage quad rentals (we’re missing size 5). They also shipped us an early sample of a new inline hockey rental skate they’re working on. These are being tested right now at a couple of rinks and we should have more info soon on when they’ll be available.
Sure-Grip’s new Rincon skate is a entry level quad speed skate. They have a great look with either a solid black boot or a black with purple highlights boot. They have a padded collar, laces and a cinch tie at the top, and nice looking accent stitching on the toes. Both colors come in sizes 4-10.
Uniq’s Era quad speed skates are on the way to us and should arrive any day now. These are great looking speed skates for the more serious session, speed, or jam skater. The boots have a distinctive clean appearance and feature microfiber uppers and linings that are comfortable from day one and won’t stretch out. The Uniq footbed insole hugs the foot and helps secure it in place to reduce slippage. The outsole has a one piece composit construction using a “barefoot last” reducing weight and increasing comfort. The tongue flap is completely removable. The outsole uses a full wrap system to attach to the uppers, which is something you see sometimes on nicer cycling shoes or our competitor’s highest end quad boots. These come in sizes 5-14.
We received a new shipment of boot covers from a brand new supplier. The early feedback has been pretty positive. They come in all the basic solid colors as well as a nice mix of new pattern designs.
Uniq’s Era quad speed skates should be ready to ship by next week (we’re hoping for Jan 3 or 4). The skates have microfiber uppers and linings that won’t stretch and are comfortable from day one. The Uniq footbed hugs the foot and secures it in place to reduce slippage. The outsole has a one piece composite construction using a “barefoot last” reducing weight and increasing comfort. The tongue flap is completely removable. The plates are lighter and stronger than competing plates at this price point. Sizes 5-14.
Vanilla has introduced a new quad speed wheel called the Never Ever. This is a limited edition wheel, they’re only making a few, and they won’t be restocking. They had limited orders to one set per rink initially, but now that each rink has had a chance to get some we are opening it up for reorders. There are two color schemes, one has dark blue urethane with a gold hub and the other has a lighter blue urethane with a pink hub.
We received a new batch of boot covers. Black and red are now back in stock as well as several new patterns.
We received a new batch of Vanilla Junior skates. We now have all sizes of the Stealth in stock (that’s the solid black one) and a good mix of other styles and sizes. We also received their Ankle Sleeve, which is a neoprene sleeve that goes over the ankle area to help pad and cushion the foot.
The first batch of Uniq’s Era skates should arrive mid-December. This is a quad speed skate that would be perfect for frequent session skaters or even beginning competitive skaters. We won’t get many on this first shipment, just a few pair of each size. But they are on the way and they look great. We should also be getting the Q8, their adult inline racing skate and skate booties all about the same time.
Vanilla teased this at our tradeshow and it is now getting close to happening. They’re introducing two new wheels in very limited editions, a small batch item, called the Never Ever wheels. The first batch of these wheels will come in two different colors, with two different hubs. We expect to get them in stock sometime next week (by Dec 1). We don’t anticipate them lasting long. Strictly on a first come, first serve basis, we will not get enough of these to get each rink a set.
Fine print / Warning / Disclaimer:
They want these to go to as many rinks as possible, so there is a limit (at least initially) of one set per rink. Some rinks might be doing contests or promos to decide which skater at their rink gets the rights to buy that set.
We have several different items that we should be receiving soon.
Boot Covers – We should be receiving a new batch of boot covers soon, hopefully next week. Black will be back in stock and we’ll also get several new pattern designs.
Fuzzy Dice – A new batch of fuzzy dice are on the way. These are 12 inches on each side, they’re in bright colors, and they’re perfect for the corner game that many rinks play. These should arrive around Thanksgiving.
Uniq Era Skate – This is Uniq’s new quad speed skate. We’re getting a very small batch in the first run of them, probably 20 pair, and they should be arriving early December. As soon as we know more we’ll be sure to let you know.
We are just a few weeks away from Black Friday and the unofficial start of the Christmas shopping season. That means that parents are starting to ask their children for gift suggestions. Make sure that skates are at the top of the list by distributing our retail catalogs (they’re free), decorating with promo posters (again, free), and stocking up your skate shop now. A small size run of one or two popular skates doesn’t cost much and can really make a huge difference in skate sales over the next few weeks.
Roller Derby’s Extreme inline rental skates are going to be discontinued. They are working on some new inline rental designs and we hope to have more details on these skates soon. Right now we have the Extreme skates still available in sizes 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 11.
The Clean Skate Wheel Washer is a great tool for cleaning up your rental skates. These machines make cleaning rental wheels quicker and easier. Your employees will thank you and your rental skates will be cleaner. You can also use the machine to clean your customer’s wheels and charge them a fee for the service. The machines are somewhat portable, so if you own multiple rinks you could move the cleaner back and forth between locations.
We had several vendor specials and closeout deals available at our recent tradeshow. We can now offer some of these to our customers that weren’t able to attend the show.
These are only for our customers, not for individual skaters. If you typically buy from our Georgia office, they’ll be offering similar deals at their show, we ask that you contact them for more info. But if you do quality, ask for a copy of the sales flyers with your next order. Or, we can email you a copy if you provide us with your customer account number and a recent invoice number.
We would like to thank everyone that came out to our tradeshow, the customers and the vendors, for taking time out to come to Roanoke to invest in your business. It was great to see everyone. Here are some notes from the show we’d like to share with those that weren’t able to attend.
Sure-Grip introduced a new skate called the Rincon that is expected to arrive around Thanksgiving. It comes in solid black or black with purple accents and they will be lower priced than we’re used to seeing from Sure-Grip. Both colors will be available in sizes 4-10.
Vanilla showed a couple of new products that will be coming in the next few weeks. One was a smaller backpack that will be available in a few different colors. Another was a padded sleeve device called an Ankle Biter that will be worn over the ankle, that should serve as a blend between a sock and a blister pad. They also showed a couple of new products they’re working on. They’re working on a higher end aluminum plate that should arrive at some point in 2024. They’re also working on a “highly allocated” (they’re not making many) quad speed wheel with an aluminum hub that could hopefully arrive in November.
Uniq had a preview of their Era skate, a quad speed skate with a great looking tongue flap. These are expected later this year. They also showed their Icon 180 and Icon 360 boots on several different plate and wheel combinations. They’re working with Piper wheels who had several different inline race wheels as well as their new quad Legend wheels, designed for the more serious speed skaters with an aluminum hub.
We should have an updated version of our tradeshow closeout flyer ready soon as well as some specials the vendors were offering at our show that we’re hoping to be able to pass along to those that weren’t in attendance, so stay tuned for more info.