Clementine Manager Brightens Downtown with Skate Shop
October 15, 2009 • By Alyse DiNapoli,
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Moving back to Harrisonburg to open up a restaurant and a skate shop would not be on the agenda for most people with a sociology degree from JMU and a theologian studies degree from Harvard.
For Jeremiah Jenkins, however, the lifestyle is simply a creative outlet through which he can simultaneously earn a living and express himself.
After moving to Harrisonburg to open up the musically and artistically eclectic Clementine Café in 2008, Jenkins realized how little downtown offers in terms of retail. Co-owner Mike Hill, a Virginia Beach native and Greg Pelletier from Northern Virginia shared Jenkins concerns on the need for a legitimate skate shop.
“There is one place in town to buy a deck. I want to provide a core skate shop downtown,” Jenkins said. “And there’s no retail in town for people who want to shop outside the mall aesthetic. You have to shop out of town for different clothes. The next stop downtown needs to make is retail.”
The collaboration of ideas from all three men gave birth to Wonder Skate Culture, a new skate boutique on West Water Street due to open in the next week. Although not completely finished, colorful paintings, displays and stickers pump a strong artistic energy throughout the store embracing skate culture.
“Music and art have gotten pretty huge in skateboarding in the last few years. It’s a big community of creative people,” Hill said.
With apparel from brands such as RVCA, Comune and Emerica, both men and women can enjoy the warm atmosphere and the down-to-earth, knowledgeable staff that Wonder offers.
“We’re not just selling skateboards,” Jenkins said. “We’re into the skate culture, kind of clothes people wear and the collaboration of artists. And exposing people to a rad culture.”
Although their focus is primarily the skate shop, the three would love to see a more vibrant downtown. Jenkins mentioned the possibility of opening an independent record store or another business that would get more people to come to the downtown Harrisonburg area.
“There needs to be more people milling around. Everybody comes to downtown to eat, not to shop,” Pelletier said.
Although the area may not currently be up to their standards, downtown’s future prospects look quite optimistic when in the hands of these three skaters.
“I want to own half of this town and turn it into a skate park,” he said.
Jenkins’ “think big” mentality has already gotten him a popular restaurant and a unique skate boutique, so perhaps a downtown skate park isn’t such a crazy goal.
CORRECTIONs: The name Mike Hill was incorrectly spelled as Hall. Hill was also not attributed as co-owner. These corrections were made at 2:39 on Friday, Oct. 16.
Contact Alyse DiNapoli at dinapoap@jmu.edu
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April 29, 2010 Issue in Print
It’s Mike Hill, not Hall. oops!
[...] is on the team opening a skate/art/clothing store on Water Street downtown. There’s a story in today’s Breeze about Wonder Skate Culture. “The next stop downtown needs to make is [...]
This is great! It’s great to see Harrisonburg’s downtown thriving with new inspired local businesses. Congratulations and best of luck! Can’t wait to see the shop!
An independently owned record store downtown would be a welcome addition to this area; any music fanatic in the area either has to order online (which doesn’t have quite the same thrill) or drive 20 minutes down 81 to shop at the mediocre Crossroads in Staunton/Waynesboro
Is this what the Breeze is coming too? Inaccurately stating a co-owner’s name, and then allowing the writer to post a comment on her own article with a simple “oops!”
Regardless, Wonder Skate is a positive direction for downtown, and one that will hopefully be taken advantage of. An independent record store is also a good idea, but as we saw with the sudden demise of Plan 9 last year, it may not be financially feasible.
My apologies to the writer, I mistakenly matched the author’s name with the name of the first commenter. Ironic, seeing as I was leveling a criticism based on reporting a name incorrectly. These mistakes happen, and I apologize again.