Rodney Smith (skateboarder)

Rodney Smith is an American professional skateboarder, entrepreneur, and skate company founder from New York City.[1][2][3]

Career

Shut Skates

Smith founded Shut Skates in 1986 with Bruno Musso.[1] Shut Skates was New York City's first skate company and the world's first entirely street skate-based company.[2] Shortly after its founding, Shut Skates moved its operations from Southern California to New York City, due to the urban, street-savvy attitude of the streets of the East Coast, compared to the former's emphasis on surf culture. The brand went dark in the 1990s when Smith co-founded Zoo York with Eli Morgan Gessner and Adam Schatz. SHUT relaunched in 2006, and in 2007, the company reopened their flagship skate shop on the Lower East Side.[4] The storefront space served the community for 10 years, closing in 2017 with the business moving online.[4]

Zoo York

In 1993, Smith, Eli Morgan Gesner, and Adam Schatz founded Zoo York.[5][6] In 2019, the trio that founded Zoo York was brought back into the company.[7]

All One Universe

In the 2010s, Smith founded skate and lifestyle brand ALL ONE, also known as All One Universe.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 "Rodney Smith". X Games. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Vans & Shut Syndicate/Rodney Smith". Transworld SKATEboarding. June 1, 2011. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  3. ↑ VHSMAG (April 12, 2021). "[VOICE OF FREEDOM] RODNEY SMITH (ENGLISH) | VHSMAG". www.vhsmag.com (in Japanese). Retrieved April 22, 2026.
  4. 1 2 Perler, Elie (August 21, 2017). "SHUT Skateboards Shutting Down its Orchard Street HQ". Bowery Boogie. Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  5. ↑ "The History of the Zoo York Mixtape". Red Bull. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  6. ↑ "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO ZOO YORK?". Jenkem Magazine. October 1, 2018. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  7. ↑ Palmieri, Jean E. (September 3, 2019). "EXCLUSIVE: Zoo York Brings Back Founders to Create Halo Collection". WWD. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  8. ↑ "6 Black-owned Skate Shops". BLK OCEANS. Retrieved September 21, 2022.
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