ULTIMATE SKATEBOARD DISTRIBUTION

It’s 1984 and skateboarding is dead. How dead? Tony Hawk is cashing monthly royalty checks for 83 cents. But Kevin Harris is a skateboard freak and skating’s pathetic popularity only energized his determination to spread the word of four-wheeled fun. The Canadian freestyle champion spent over 45 weekends of the year demoing in shopping malls and paid his way to California contests, placing so high that he earned a spot on Powell Peralta’s Bones Brigade and was eventually ranked second in the world.

Not only was Kevin rewarded with his own pro model, but Powell also offered him their Canadian distribution rights. Kevin’s passion and relationships with other skaters in the industry quickly made Ultimate Distribution the largest skateboard distributor in Canada.

By 1986, Ultimate was distributing the industry’s top ten brands. “Those relationships have been there for 25 years,” Kevin says, looking back. “All of our big accounts, which were the major companies in skateboarding, came from personal relationships built through the downtime in skating. We were all there together when there wasn’t mainstream money or respect in it.”

Ultimate also started Concrete Skateboarding, a free magazine focusing on Canadian shredders and supported the Richmond Skate Ranch, the first indoor mini-ramp park. They scouted for brands, supplying product, flights, photo incentives to local talent (example: Chris Haslam) and sponsored local events and contests.

In 1993 Kevin realized the market was so large that Ultimate needed to expand. They hired Kelly Jablonski, a longtime friend and sponsored skater, as Ultimate’s General Manager and opened an Eastern branch run by Norm Macdonald.

Today Ultimate operates 12 warehouses. But it’s not all about hard currency. For Kevin it’s been 20 years of elongating his teenage dream. “I still talk, skate and do business with friends that I made decades ago through skating.”

• 100% skater owned and operated

• Support over 200 skateboard events a year

• Scout and support local talent for brands (free product, airfare, photo incentives, travel money)

• Expand skateboarding exposure through skate camps, school projects, free skate lessons, etc.

• Financial backer / distributor for Concrete Skateboarding magazine

• Advertise in Canada with both Concrete and Color magazines

• Donated more than $450,000 to various skateparks.