Nick Buckholz shows off the skateboards for sale at Holistic Skate Shop in West Reading. PHOTOS BY WES CIPOLLA
This story originally appeared in the Reading Eagle in 2018.
Wes Cipolla
The wall of skate socks in West Reading’s Holistic Skateshop changes every season, but this is the only time Carlos and Mary Rivera will get to see the multicolored, foot-warming spectacle. Having come to Berks from Puerto Rico upon Carlos’s mother’s death, they’re picking out a skateboard as a gift for their daughter Genesis, 17, back in San Juan. Their son, 3-year-old Jafat, runs up to join them, his Lightning McQueen umbrella trailing behind him like a drag racer’s parachute. He peeks out from behind a Beastie Boys sweatshirt and drags off a skateboard shaped like a jet ski.
If you’re like most modern marketers, you’re asking yourself the most important question here - is Jafat a member of Generation Z? As Generation Y, better known as millennials, continue to grow older, a new generation is coming of age. According to Diane Rollins, a senior consultant for DaBrian Marketing, Gen Z refers to anyone born between 1995 and 2012.
Jafat is too young to make the cut, but Genesis - and skate shop employee Nick Buckholz, 20 - are right in the middle. Buckholz compulsively clicks a pen in his veiny, callused hands. His fingers show signs of nervous picking. His socks have tigers on them.
“When people see me, I don’t always wear nice clothes, my pants are ripped, I look like a skater.” Buckholz said. “Like, older people, they just mush all of the youth into one category.”
When Buckholz is in his baggy skater clothes, people give him dirty looks and think he’s a “degenerate punk,” but he wants you to know he’s very polite once you get to know him.
“I’ve never really, like, called myself a millennial,” he said. “I wouldn’t put myself in the same boat as the kids today. I think there’s a general lack of respect in today’s youth, even kids my age don’t have a lot of respect for the world.”
Nick Buckholz behind the counter at Holistic Skate Shop.
Gregg L. Witt disagrees. He’s the co-founder of Engage Youth Co., an agency that teaches brands how to market to young people. After interviewing hundreds of Gen Z-ers, he sees them as independent, diverse, quick-thinking and politically engaged. So does Rollins.
“Generation Z is concerned about the environment and wants to feel like it’s making a difference,” she said.
“Gen Z are choosing more pragmatic careers, for example, selecting a legal profession instead of trying to be a YouTuber influencer,” Witt said, “are financially conservative and are avoiding the social media privacy pitfalls of millennials. Young people are managing their presence like a brand.”
That interest in personal branding causes trends to come and go, trends that Buckholz concerns himself with following.
“It just comes and goes with trends,” he said, “even the style in skating changes all the time. It used to be super baggy, but now it’s kind of like retro. There’s a lot of different styles.”
Right now, rebellion couldn’t be more in, something that isn’t surprising to marketers.
“Gen Z is very politically aware and actively involved in supporting environmental, social impact and civil rights causes,” Witt said. “Activists are their role models.”
Of course, Holistic has the perennial socks-with-pot-leaves-on-them for sale, but now alongside them are socks portraying Jesus wearing the crown of thorns. The company mini-fridge has a sticker on it reading, “Skateboarding was better as a crime.”
“And that’s kind of like the attitude that a lot of young kids have.” Buckholz said. “Little kids like to rebel, that’s just how they are. Skating’s all about doing what you want.”
But when images like that are mass-produced by a company, he thinks it becomes less rebellious.
“If everything was like that, something rebellious, it would make nothing special, you know? If everything in here was like a comment on religion or social norms or whatever.
Buckholz has noticed that nowadays, more and more people who know nothing about skateboarding are beginning to dress like skateboarders. He blames social media, but isn’t offended. He likes that people are supporting skate culture.
“You don’t have to skate to like skateboarding, you know?” He said. “When I’m skating in public, people who don’t even skate, people who wear button-ups and nice shoes say, ‘Yeah dude!’ They get excited.”
“A lot of younger people, they have grown up with technology in their hands,” Rollins said, “so they are very used to navigating the digital world, and the social media where they hang out.”
Social media is the new marketing battleground for companies hoping to court Gen Z. They use tactics like “brand influencers,” social media personalities who endorse a product to their many followers. Gen Z craves “authenticity” like the Jesus socks, as well as jokes, memes and relatable content that comes from companies.
“If the only thing you do on any social media platform is put out many advertisements, your followers don’t want to see ads every day.” Rollins said. “But if you put out relevant content, fun content, your social following will stay with you. I think today, there’s a sense of authenticity that goes along with sharing some of those experiences.”
Supreme, a clothing company with a heavy social media presence, has used youth rebellion and the perceived coolness of skater culture to become a major brand, something that irks Buckholz.
“Skating, it’s on the come-up kind of,” he said. “Skating is a trend, and honestly, I think it’s becoming more popular because of really well-known trendy companies embracing this skate culture. Because kids already idolize Supreme. Everyone wants the exclusive Supreme crap. They like flock to it. They just see skateboarding as something cool. They have f-you prices, because nobody has it and everyone wants it.”
If anyone knows Supreme, it’s Xavier Marricco-Holmes, a 19-year-old fashion major at Albright College who left his hometown of Irvington, Jersey so that he could start fresh from the “dumb stuff” he did in high school.
“As soon as the 90s ended,” he said, “the next generation of kids is just wild, people will put us in that box. I feel like we’re more calm. The next generation doesn’t care about who we are, but we are ourselves. I don’t consider myself part of any generation. I just consider myself here.”
This attitude inspired his own clothing line, Dead(you)th.
“The you in youth is in parentheses,” he said, “because the message is to stay true to yourself, because when you pass away the only person that’s getting buried is you. Human beings are born with dreams and the biggest imagination, and society will be like, ‘that’s not realistic,’ and that kills your imagination.”
Supreme, a mainstay of his favorite rappers, is one of Xavier’s inspirations for Dead(you)th. He pays close attention to the latest trends, seeing what he can do with his own brand.
“It’s a popular thing,” he said, “like, I feel like in the fashion world, streetwear, it brings people together. I could talk to people about Supreme for hours.”
His shirt, representing Supreme brand Spitfire Wheels, shows a stick figure lighting a cat’s tail on fire. What does it mean? He points a pair of finger guns at me and says, “I don’t know. I just like the design on it. I like the colors.”
Due to Supreme’s limited releases, the brand is like catnip for scalpers who resell sold-out clothes at jacked-up prices. Xavier’s shirt only cost him $10 more - the money went to a computer programmer who ordered it for him instantaneously using bots.
“Online ordering with Supreme is a race to the cart.” Xavier said. “As soon as it drops, everyone is clicking. I am not waiting in line for a Supreme shirt. If I can’t get it, I can’t get it. I’m not paying 200 dollars.”
That attitude is the complete opposite of the hypebeasts, young people who will do anything, including waiting for hours on end, to get their hands on the latest, trendiest clothing.
“People will pay to look cool. That’s what people don’t understand.”
As Carlos appraises a psychedelic-looking number of a skateboard and Mary video chats with Genesis, the anger Buckholz feels towards Supreme is nowhere to be found when managing Jafat - even when he knocks over a ragged cardboard box filled with stickers. Jafat helps clean up the mess, picking up skeleton pick-up girls and more skater slogans.
“The culture itself is what really appealed to me,” Buckholz said about skating. “Almost every skateboarder I met is very open-minded and very accepting of who you are.”
Soon enough, Buckholz has a skateboard ready, and the Riveras are on their way, the skateboard ready to go 1,000 miles southwest of Reading. Another satisfied Gen Z customer.
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