For some people, a hobby is just a hobby. For others, it is a way of life and can evolve into much more than a simple interest. Josh Johnson, owner of Thin City Skate Shop located at 410 George St N., is one of those people who took his hobby to an entirely different level.

An avid skateboarding enthusiast for over 12 years now, Josh grew up in an era where Peterborough had a smaller go-to skateshop in Breeze which many people in the hobby will remember. It was the hub for skating enthusiasts in the community but sadly closed down roughly eight years ago.

After that, the market changed with larger big brand stores moving in and seemingly taking over. At the age of 20, Josh decided to do something about that. Starting out with a loan from Community Futures, Josh opened Thin City in May of 2011 and hasn’t looked back since. Known for custom ordering and set ups of skateboards, longboards, snowboards and scooters, Thin City has become what could be considered the local authority on all things board sports in our great city!

Offering plenty of experience and advice in all things board sports, Josh has turned his small shop into a great setting for local hobbyists to check out. With a smaller sized shop comes a smaller inventory, but that hasn’t stopped Josh from having a large catalogue to choose specialized parts and most brands that you can think of to order in at a moment’s notice. If he doesn’t have something on hand in the shop, chances are that he can order it in in no time. This also includes clothing that he has in his retail set-up.

Coming soon, Thin City will also be opening up an e-commerce online shop that will make them even more accessible to its clients, allowing it to reach out into the community and abroad even more.

Thin City is proud to carry a few local consignment companies in stock and loves carrying Canadian brands in an effort to support Canadian board sports. Josh wants his shop to be as accessible as possible and to be the shop run by locals for locals with experience and knowledge to share—without the big chain store feeling to it.

Still an avid skateboarder himself, Josh and his store Thin City are proud to put on a few events at our local skate part every year. The “Open Season Burn” and “Shred Fest” have been huge hits amongst local boarders and he plans to continue expanding these events and promote what he considers the greenest mode of transportation and fun around.

On top of these events, Josh has also been involved with city council meetings in an effort to
legalize skateboarding in the street, and has even written for Concrete Wave Magazine on the topic of Peterborough and skateboarding over the past few decades.

So, if you’ve ever been interested in board sports, or are looking for a more local feel when shopping for your next ride, we suggest you head down to Thin City and talk to someone with all the knowledge you could ask for!

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For more on Thin City Skate Shop (410 George St. N.), go to:
Website: ThinCitySkateShop.com
Twitter: @thincitysk8shop
Facebook: ThinCityLongboard
Phone: 705.775.5664

For more on Downtown Peterborough and the Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA), click here.

—By Aaron Elliott