Santa Cruz - Beyond The Usual

Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz Skateboard is the oldest continuous skateboard company in the world. This is its story.

In the beginning, their surfboard brand business was struggling to stay afloat because the margins were low. But all of a sudden, a friend from a Hawaiian company challenged NHS to make 500 skateboards. NHS had a surplus of fiberglass lying around and barely any customers, so they decided to use the stocked materials to fulfill the order. The first-ever Santa Cruz skateboard was produced in 1973.  The batch of 500 skateboards sold quickly, and so the newly created skate brand immediately got another order of 500.  From that moment on, the company became a symbol of skateboard culture.