The Ground Floor: Former pro opens skateboard shop in Cedar Rapids

Owner: Nate Sherwood and Lindsey Podzimek

Company: EduSkate

Address: 417 Third Ave. SW in Cedar Rapids

Website: www.eduskatecr.com

Facebook page: www.facebook.com/eduskatecr

There are dozens of skateboarding shops in San Deigo, enough to outfit any amount of novice boarders or professional skaters from head to toe with the latest gear and equipment.

But Cedar Rapids is the opposite, which is exactly what Nate Sherwood and his wife Lindsey Podzimek were looking for two years ago after deciding they wanted to leave their digs in southern California and start hunting for a new home.

Sherwood, 33, is a former professional skateboarder who has worked in the skating industry for nearly 16 years and wants to stay in the field he loves. Podzimek is a Cedar Rapids native with Eastern Iowa roots that go five generations deep.

After the economy went south in San Diego, Sherwood found work at a Kia car dealership and quickly decided that wasn't for him.

“I wanted to get back into what I knew about,” he said. “And I always wanted to be my own boss.”

So he decided to open his own skateboard shop. But with the market in San Diego saturated, Sherwood and Podzimek began to look outside the area – including in Podzimek's home town.

“I always thought Cedar Rapids was awesome,” he said. “I just loved it.”

Sherwood did have one gripe with the community.

“Every time I came here I was like, ‘Why is there no shop in town?'” he said. “It seemed like a no brainer.”

On June 1, Sherwood and his wife fixed that problem. They opened the doors to their dream store EduSkate, 417 Third Ave. SW, located less than a mile from the city's Riverside Skate Park at the intersection of C Street and 13

^th

Avenue SW.

“I took out a small business loan and here I am,” Sherwood said.

The couple arrived in town May 8 and made fast work out of the empty space to get it opened in under four weeks. Sherwood said he thinks Cedar Rapids is primed for a store like his considering the nearest skate shop to the park downtown is 30 miles away in Iowa City.

“It just seemed right – all the cards fell perfectly,” Sherwood said. “We have family support, and there is no competition.”

Cedar Rapids' Riverside Skate Park sits on land the city is selling to Penford Products Co. for its planned plant expansion. But, as part of the sale agreement, Penford has agreed to replace the skate park, ball diamond and playground that currently monopolize the property.

Sherwood said, based on the visitors he's had in just the first week of business, Cedar Rapids definitely has a demand for skating infrastructure, equipment, and clothing. His store offers skateboarding shoes, apparel, boards, parts, photography, and he eventually hopes to provide instruction and demonstrations in an effort to meet the local demand.

“I have been extremely amazed,” he said about the early foot traffic through his front doors. “And 60 percent of our sales have been shoes.”

Customers have varied from a mother buying her son his first board to a 42-year-old man wanting a long cruiser board to take to HyVee.

“I'm trying to cater to every demographic,” he said.  “We have a little bit for everyone, from novice to expert.”

Mike Duthler, 25, of Cedar Rapids, said he has been skateboarding for more than a decade, and he's thrilled to finally have a skateboard shop in town.

“It's something we have needed for a while,” said Duthler, who also paints skateboards and produces a skating magazine that he plans to sell in EduSkate. “I'm excited to have them here.”