Posted on August - 28 - 2010
Local skateboard enthusiast turns love of sport into a business
Christian Westphal launched his skateboard line in May, putting three designs on the street. His manufacturing and printing are now outsourced to California, but his goal is to have everything created in Memphis.
A skateboarder most of his life, Christian Westphal once had big dreams of making it as a pro.
As he settled into his adult life, the lanky, 6-foot-4-inch half-German, half-Brit realized he might want to adjust his goals.
“When I was about 22, I realized I probably wasn’t going to get sponsored any time soon, so I started thinking about the other side, the business side,” said the 27-year-old Memphian.
He continued to save money and play around with the idea of making his own skateboards, and on May 1 of this year, the University of Memphis art student bought his first business license, for Cooper Skateboards.
“I decided to go for it,” said Westphal. “I decided I would be that guy I would see in the magazines.”
A few months later, he already sponsors a team of eight skateboarders, is almost out of his second order of boards, and is working on five more designs, or graphics, in addition to the three on the streets now.
“We received our first delivery at the beginning of June and we had a team within the first three days,” said Westphal, who’s also a chef garde manger at Tsunami restaurant. “We’ve had a lot of good feedback so far.”
Luke Steffenhagen, 24, who, like Westphal, is a lifer of the sport, offers nothing but rave reviews of the decks.
“I would say, as far as boards go, the shape and quality is just as good as any other company you’ll find,” said Steffenhagen, who’s on the Cooper team.
He’s a big fan of the price as well.
“You have shop decks or blank decks and you’ve got pro boards. These fall right in the middle,” said Steffenhagen. “Boards with graphics on them are expensive, and these are outstanding.”
Westphal decided to launch three designs for his first couple of runs: a “Cooper” graphic with an ax next to it; a seagull with falling feathers that form “Cooper”; and a zombie rendering of President Obama and John McCain holding an infant’s arm and leg.
“We got an artist from California to design that. It’s the idea that either one you choose, it’s going to cost an arm and a leg,” Westphal said.
While he outsources his manufacturing and printing to a company in California, his ultimate goal is to create everything in Memphis, and use his business as a gallery of sorts for local artists.
Most of all, Westphal hopes to build the small-but-growing skate scene in his hometown.
And if he can’t get written up in the magazines for his “Ollies” or “McTwists,” maybe he will for his business.
“I know I’ll always be skateboarding,” Westphal said. “I will always be involved.”
Cooper Skateboards
Owner: Christian Westphal
Vendors: Cheapskates, 1576 Getwell, and Cordova Skateboard Shop, 8130 Macon Station #102.
Online: cooperskateboards.blogspot.com.
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