Dwindle Distribution announced this week that they will now be producing all of their skateboard decks in China. The new facility has been named the “Chop Chop Wood Shop” and is expected to allow the company to increase the number of man hours spent on each deck, while simultaneously decreasing the wholesale price.
“It would be tempting for us at Dwindle to hang on to this competitive advantage and keep this production savings in extra margin for our own company,” said Bob Sayre, company spokesperson. “While short term this may help us out, long term it doesnt help skaters and it doesnt help the skate industry.”
The company went on to say that the move was made in order to improve their quality control and give them a competitive advantage. Dwindle product designer, Rodney Mullen said, “We firmly believe there is no other woodshop in the U.S. or Europe that has gone to the same extremes This hurdle, along with costing issues, is the key reason why skateboard technology has been stagnant for decades.”
While Dwindle is pushing this as a positive step for the industry, not too many retailers seem to agree. Postings in industry chat-rooms all seem to reveal the same sentiment – this move will hurt local production, and make it harder for small independent retailers, who place orders for 10-20 decks at a time, to source skate decks.
