Vancouver's Kevin Kelly has finally settled into a role he seemed destined for – a skateshop owner – and it was a spectrum of experience that brought him there. After starting Skate It Up Enterprises in 1999, he ran numerous local contests and also became one of the first to provide skate lessons for kids in 5 Metro Vancouver communities. In the winter of 2001-'02, he teamed up with Jay Balmer and New Line's Kyle Dion to open "The Project" – a popular indoor skatepark in Burnaby, BC with an intentional one-winter lifespan. Kevin also helped open Richmond's RDS indoor in '03; he worked as the "Skateboard Industry Coordinator" at Slam City Jam '04, and later that year he helped Underworld open their Vancouver store.

"I think I inherited a sort of ‘get involved' attitude from my parents. They were always getting things going and I really fed off that," explains Kevin Kelly, owner of BLVD Skateshop (1340 Commercial Drive, East Van). "For me it was always, ‘I enjoy business and I love skateboarding, so how can I combine the two?' I'll take any opportunity put in front of me."

In the following Q&A, Kevin Kelly touches on his deep skate-roots, BLVD Skateshop, and a beneficial bout with a Swedish furniture mogul.

As a long-time skateboarder, what circumstance first got you hooked?
In 1985, I was picnicking with my family in North Van, and I saw the Seylynn bowl across the river. By total fluke, when we went over there a whole skate team showed up in a van and started ripping around the bowls. I found out later that they were there because of Border Wars – a vert contest in Stanley Park. They had a wooden tombstone set up in the Seylynn bowl that Hosoi, Cab and those guys were shredding. I was completely infected by it.

Can you explain BLVD's beginnings in Kerrisdale (Vancouver's west side)?
That shop opened on December 7th, '08. I opened up in the middle of a brutal recession, so it definitely wasn't easy. It was important for me to get stuff going for the kids in the area right away. I started doing movie/pizza nights in the winter. We did a contest at the local hockey arena, then the Vancouver premiere of FUN!, which had Jordan Hoffart's turning pro part. Weekly BBQs at the nearby skatepark (Quilchena) started up, and I reinstated my skateboard lessons – this time called SKAMP! We taught 140 kids over the summer. I wanted to establish myself as the west side's skateshop that really catered to youth and I think a lot of people got hyped about skateboarding over there. Unfortunately, that didn't really translate into the kind of sales I'd hoped for. I've learned so much in the last 10 months, so no regrets at all.

How did the Commercial Drive shop, your current location, come about?
I live near The Drive, and went for a bike ride after another slow day in Kerrisdale. I've always thought there was a really good culture around The Drive and there's never been a skateshop, so I got sparked. My earliest memories of skateboarding in Vancouver involved Commericial Drive after skating nearby China Creek, Vancouver's oldest cement park. There's rarely any decent spaces for lease on The Drive, but that day I saw one. My real estate buddy made some calls, then I sent a proposal and 3 days later the space was mine. The Kerrisdale store took 2 months to open, and the Commercial Drive one took 2 and-a-half weeks at 20% of what the other store cost me. Lessons learned. Hammer pro Seb Templer, who I always work with, helped get Commerical ship-shape. I opened the doors Aug 1, 2009, and the area's been really supportive. It's rad!

Didn't you face-off with a Swedish furniture mogul?
5 days before I was set to open on Commercial, IKEA used an outside marketing team to do an ad campaign called "Any Space Can Be Beautiful", which involved going around painting stencils on sidewalks and buildings. They did one right on my store after I had just prepped the front of it for painting. I completely lost it and yelled at IKEA's higher-ups. They were very apologetic and said they were going to fix it right away, and they didn't. When they did fix it, they did a bad job. So I called up CBC and they came and did a news story on me that went national. It ended up being good promotion for the store, but that wasn't my intention. The bottom line wasn't me and my business, it was how IKEA could get away with this and not be fined when someone could get a ticket for skating a bus bench. I was pissed about the double standard. They eventually gave me a gift certificate, which I sold to take my team on a trip to San Francisco [laughs].

You've got an impressive shop roster. Who's on?
A really good mix of guys of different ages and styles, for sure. Nelson Conway, Mark Johnson, Kyle Desaulniers, AJ McCallister, Nate Lacoste, Chris Connolly, Desmond Hoostie, Spike Jones, Wee Wong, Dave Priest, Danny Hagge, Adam Cassidy, Corey Klim, Cory Wilson, Jeff Falconer, Jamie Maley and Craig Williams are on. To me, a shop can be a valuable go-between for getting sponsored. I'll talk to the distributors and brands for them and pass along their videos. The more established guys already have that set-up, so I just want them to be stoked on the shop.

Vancouver plaza montage featuring BLVD's Desmond Hoostie ('09 Lord Of The Lines Finals winner).

In a sea of "big-box" skate/snow stores, where does a shop like BLVD stand?
I realize I'm new in this game, and it's a cliché term to say, "support your local skateshop", but I really think it's important to do that. We focus a lot of attention and resources towards putting on events and things for the local community to promote real skateboarding, while these other big-box stores who make all the cheese don't. Without the real skateboard shops, skateboarding is lost.

BLVD's site can be found by clicking here, and this link will lead you to a post about "Skate Or Die" – an ‘80s-themed skate jam put on by BLVD in early October '09.

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Related:
BLVD's Gnar-BQ
Step In The Arena (video)
Skate Or D-D-D-D-Die!