5
comments
New Ann Arbor skateboard shop producing custom boards one at a time
1 / 10
Flophouse Customs owner Ben Thompson, left, and Johnny Scott prep shipments and build a custom skateboard deck in Ann Arbor on March 27, 2014. Patrick Record | The Ann Arbor News
Patrick Record | PRecord@MLive.com
Print Ben Freed | benfreed@mlive.com By Ben Freed | benfreed@mlive.com
Follow on Twitter
on April 06, 2014 at 5:25 AM
0
Reddit
With a new skate park set to open this summer, lifelong Ann Arborite and skateboarder Ben Thompson decided the time was right to open his own custom board shop.
“I’ve been an artist my whole life and I’ve always loved to draw and I also love skateboarding,” he said while giving a tour of the space he’s in the process of decorating with murals inspired by his board designs.
“When I was in middle school I used to take skateboards, paint them white, and then I’d just draw on them with a Sharpie. Back then I wasn’t thinking of it in a business sense at all. I just wanted to draw boards because they looked cool.”
Thompson opened Flophouse Skateboards in December underneath Taco King and across the parking lot from Express Sign Design where he still works as a graphic designer. He said business has been steady since opening, but the weather has been working against him.
“I’m hoping that business will pick up in the summer, especially with the new skate park,” Thompson said. “Right now I’m selling enough to stay afloat and pay the rent, so considering it’s been a long winter that’s a good sign.”
Once the skate park opens, the shop plans to have a tent at the grand opening and major events to promote its boards and apparel. Thompson said that it’s primarily a custom board shop, but the company will have hats, t-shirts and stickers to promote its brand.
Flophouse also already sponsors a few local skateboarders and plans to expand its team as Thompson and his production specialist Johnny Scott scope out talent at the park.
“In the skateboarding community you’ll have this kids who are just amazing so you want to start throwing them some product,” Scott said. “And you’ll say to them, ‘Hey, ride with us, we’ll hook you up. And bring your friends around also.’”
The process that Thompson and Scott utilize now to make the boards involves printing designs onto vinyl “stickers” that are attached to the blank boards using heat gun. The system produces unique and high-quality boards, but Thompson said it’s time consuming and not feasible in the long run.
“A standard board maker would print the designs on plastic sheets, lay them on the board and run it through a heat transfer machine, which is what we ultimately want to do,” he said. “But those machines cost $10,000, so we do it our way for now.”
The goal is for the company to eventually to acquire a heat transfer machine, which can still make unique custom boards but does so more quickly and efficiently.
With no storefront, custom boards have been the company’s major seller so far, with the biggest single order coming from an endurance competition in Wales.
People will come in with an idea and Ben has this uncanny ability to just nail their idea spot on.
“The custom boards have been a ton of fun,” Scott said. “People will come in with an idea and Ben has this uncanny ability to just nail their idea spot on.”
Custom boards cost $100 for the first board and $40 for every board after that. The designs are generally drawn by Thompson and then printed out and melted onto the boards by hand.
“They’re really a one of a kind thing,” Thompson said.
“Everyone who wants something wants it really custom, so it will have their daughter’s name on it or something like that. It’s not something that other people will come along and buy one that someone else designed.”
Scott skateboards more competitively than Thompson and said that the blank boards that the company acquires from Canada — via a warehouse in Utah — are more sharply curved on the ends, making them higher quality.
“The boards we get blank are better than a lot of other boards out there, so I really like taking ours out and riding them,” Scott said as he demonstrates some tricks in the basement space.
“How concave the board is, that affects how high you can pop up and do tricks. These ones we get have some really good pop to them.”
After moving to Ann Arbor from Montana, Scott connected with Thompson through the local skateboarding community, which he said is more tight-knit than others he’s seen around the country.
“I’ve noticed that here it’s the older generation taking the younger under their wing a bit,” he said.
“Whereas in other places you sometimes have the older generation saying ‘get out of our way, punks.’ Here you have everyone learning from each other, it’s a really great scene.”
Thompson grew up in Ann Arbor and started skateboarding on the Old West Side where his mother still lives. He graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a fine arts degree and did coursework in graphic design at Washtenaw Community College.
“For me I’m an artist first and foremost, it doesn’t make a huge difference for me what kind of board I’m riding,” Thompson said. “I’m not going to be throwing big tricks.”
Real Estate
FOR RENT
Kalamazoo, MI
FOR RENT
Muskegon, MI
Reddit
Related Stories
Prosecutor: Witnesses afraid of defendants in homicide case Report: EMU police arrest student accused of stealing electronics from library
Sign in with your MLive.com, Facebook or Google account or sign up
Please review the Community Rules before posting
Comments (5)
Popular Topics
pause live updates
a2wut2 days ago
Ben is a really cool and talented guy, and deserves any success that comes from this. Best of luck to Flophouse skateboard co!
LikeReplyShare
Bob Zuruncol2 days ago
Cool.
I wonder if they have a street address.
LikeReplyShare
Jaime Magiera3 days ago
Very cool. Good luck! (I silkscreen custom boards - a process which has downsides as well)
LikeReplyShare
Annie Maxine3 days ago
I've known Ben for quite sometime and it's been great to see him grow. Throughout his struggles, it seems he always comes out on top. Nice work, Ben! Wishing you the best of luck in your endeavor!
LikeReplyShare
ricebrnr3 days ago
Doesn't sound like a profitable business taking into manufacturing capacity and target markets but hey not everything is about money.
If they break even and very much love their work then they are further ahead than many.
Good luck to you.
LikeReplyShare
Stay ahead of the weather
Check your local forecast and see weather news from across Michigan
... Find our coverage here»
Get the latest updates
Subscribe to our newsletters
Like MLive on Facebook
Follow MLive on Twitter
Most Comments
2196 Open thread: Detroit Red Wings vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (chat)
2026 Julie Mack: Gay marriage and the other side of the story
1198 Live updates: Detroit Tigers at Los Angeles Dodgers (chat)
734 Live updates: Detroit Tigers at Los Angeles Dodgers (chat)
691 Column: Where in the world is Ndamukong Suh?
See more comments »
Most Read
See April Fool’s pregnancy prank played on Aquinas College professor
MSU fan yelling 'Go Green, Go White' punched several times on U-M's campus
Police hunting 'mystery pooper' defecating on park slides
'Dancing with the Stars' 2014: Week 4 results, plus the 'switch up,' leaderboard, guest judge Julianne Hough and more
Aquinas April Fools pregnancy prank: Professor says ‘they got me so good’
comments
New Ann Arbor skateboard shop producing custom boards one at a time
1 / 10
Flophouse Customs owner Ben Thompson, left, and Johnny Scott prep shipments and build a custom skateboard deck in Ann Arbor on March 27, 2014. Patrick Record | The Ann Arbor News
Patrick Record | PRecord@MLive.com
Print Ben Freed | benfreed@mlive.com By Ben Freed | benfreed@mlive.com
Follow on Twitter
on April 06, 2014 at 5:25 AM
0
With a new skate park set to open this summer, lifelong Ann Arborite and skateboarder Ben Thompson decided the time was right to open his own custom board shop.
“I’ve been an artist my whole life and I’ve always loved to draw and I also love skateboarding,” he said while giving a tour of the space he’s in the process of decorating with murals inspired by his board designs.
“When I was in middle school I used to take skateboards, paint them white, and then I’d just draw on them with a Sharpie. Back then I wasn’t thinking of it in a business sense at all. I just wanted to draw boards because they looked cool.”
Thompson opened Flophouse Skateboards in December underneath Taco King and across the parking lot from Express Sign Design where he still works as a graphic designer. He said business has been steady since opening, but the weather has been working against him.
“I’m hoping that business will pick up in the summer, especially with the new skate park,” Thompson said. “Right now I’m selling enough to stay afloat and pay the rent, so considering it’s been a long winter that’s a good sign.”
Once the skate park opens, the shop plans to have a tent at the grand opening and major events to promote its boards and apparel. Thompson said that it’s primarily a custom board shop, but the company will have hats, t-shirts and stickers to promote its brand.
Flophouse also already sponsors a few local skateboarders and plans to expand its team as Thompson and his production specialist Johnny Scott scope out talent at the park.
“In the skateboarding community you’ll have this kids who are just amazing so you want to start throwing them some product,” Scott said. “And you’ll say to them, ‘Hey, ride with us, we’ll hook you up. And bring your friends around also.’”
The process that Thompson and Scott utilize now to make the boards involves printing designs onto vinyl “stickers” that are attached to the blank boards using heat gun. The system produces unique and high-quality boards, but Thompson said it’s time consuming and not feasible in the long run.
“A standard board maker would print the designs on plastic sheets, lay them on the board and run it through a heat transfer machine, which is what we ultimately want to do,” he said. “But those machines cost $10,000, so we do it our way for now.”
The goal is for the company to eventually to acquire a heat transfer machine, which can still make unique custom boards but does so more quickly and efficiently.
With no storefront, custom boards have been the company’s major seller so far, with the biggest single order coming from an endurance competition in Wales.
People will come in with an idea and Ben has this uncanny ability to just nail their idea spot on.
“The custom boards have been a ton of fun,” Scott said. “People will come in with an idea and Ben has this uncanny ability to just nail their idea spot on.”
Custom boards cost $100 for the first board and $40 for every board after that. The designs are generally drawn by Thompson and then printed out and melted onto the boards by hand.
“They’re really a one of a kind thing,” Thompson said.
“Everyone who wants something wants it really custom, so it will have their daughter’s name on it or something like that. It’s not something that other people will come along and buy one that someone else designed.”
Scott skateboards more competitively than Thompson and said that the blank boards that the company acquires from Canada — via a warehouse in Utah — are more sharply curved on the ends, making them higher quality.
“The boards we get blank are better than a lot of other boards out there, so I really like taking ours out and riding them,” Scott said as he demonstrates some tricks in the basement space.
“How concave the board is, that affects how high you can pop up and do tricks. These ones we get have some really good pop to them.”
After moving to Ann Arbor from Montana, Scott connected with Thompson through the local skateboarding community, which he said is more tight-knit than others he’s seen around the country.
“I’ve noticed that here it’s the older generation taking the younger under their wing a bit,” he said.
“Whereas in other places you sometimes have the older generation saying ‘get out of our way, punks.’ Here you have everyone learning from each other, it’s a really great scene.”
Thompson grew up in Ann Arbor and started skateboarding on the Old West Side where his mother still lives. He graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a fine arts degree and did coursework in graphic design at Washtenaw Community College.
“For me I’m an artist first and foremost, it doesn’t make a huge difference for me what kind of board I’m riding,” Thompson said. “I’m not going to be throwing big tricks.”
Real Estate
FOR RENT
Kalamazoo, MI
FOR RENT
Muskegon, MI
Related Stories
Prosecutor: Witnesses afraid of defendants in homicide case Report: EMU police arrest student accused of stealing electronics from library
Sign in with your MLive.com, Facebook or Google account or sign up
Please review the Community Rules before posting
Comments (5)
Popular Topics
pause live updates
a2wut2 days ago
Ben is a really cool and talented guy, and deserves any success that comes from this. Best of luck to Flophouse skateboard co!
LikeReplyShare
Bob Zuruncol2 days ago
Cool.
I wonder if they have a street address.
LikeReplyShare
Jaime Magiera3 days ago
Very cool. Good luck! (I silkscreen custom boards - a process which has downsides as well)
LikeReplyShare
Annie Maxine3 days ago
I've known Ben for quite sometime and it's been great to see him grow. Throughout his struggles, it seems he always comes out on top. Nice work, Ben! Wishing you the best of luck in your endeavor!
LikeReplyShare
ricebrnr3 days ago
Doesn't sound like a profitable business taking into manufacturing capacity and target markets but hey not everything is about money.
If they break even and very much love their work then they are further ahead than many.
Good luck to you.
LikeReplyShare
Stay ahead of the weather
Check your local forecast and see weather news from across Michigan
... Find our coverage here»
Get the latest updates
Subscribe to our newsletters
Like MLive on Facebook
Follow MLive on Twitter
Most Comments
2196 Open thread: Detroit Red Wings vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (chat)
2026 Julie Mack: Gay marriage and the other side of the story
1198 Live updates: Detroit Tigers at Los Angeles Dodgers (chat)
734 Live updates: Detroit Tigers at Los Angeles Dodgers (chat)
691 Column: Where in the world is Ndamukong Suh?
See more comments »
Most Read
See April Fool’s pregnancy prank played on Aquinas College professor
MSU fan yelling 'Go Green, Go White' punched several times on U-M's campus
Police hunting 'mystery pooper' defecating on park slides
'Dancing with the Stars' 2014: Week 4 results, plus the 'switch up,' leaderboard, guest judge Julianne Hough and more
Aquinas April Fools pregnancy prank: Professor says ‘they got me so good’
No comments:
Post a Comment