Hypebeast Community Center is a new series spotlighting emerging, indie and underground brands in street culture — giving them a platform to share their story and explain who they are/what they do in their own words.
The Five W’s
Who is stopping by the store?
You’ll see literally every single type of person you can imagine. That’s the beauty of skateboarding, especially in New York City. Every day you’ll see a skater roll through for something as simple as a sheet of griptape — then 30 minutes later, a person you can tell who has never stepped foot on a skateboard in their entire life comes through and cops an entire outfit. That person might live down the block or have traveled super far but you’ll truly never know who will stop by on a given day.
What is the store’s main message?
We want to have fun, put community and quality first, show love to the people who came before us and opened the door for us to do what we do today and, of course, not take this skate industry sh*t too seriously.
When did you open Tenant?
Tenant opened five years ago in September 2019.
Where can we find Tenant?
We’re located at 1096 Dekalb Ave in Bedstuy, Brooklyn. Our brand is also sold at select retailers in Japan, Australia, Canada and England
Why was Tenant created?
I wanted to find a way to give back to the city and scene I grew up in. Even though I was super young when opening the shop, I was coming from a retail and graphic design background. This just seemed like the perfect outlet for all those things and especially being able to display it through the lens of being a native New Yorker just seemed really special and needed at the time.
About the Store
Can you recall your first encounter with skate culture?
Around sixth grade, I was finally able to take the train downtown by myself for the first time to go skate the Brooklyn Banks and the old LES.
Why “Tenant” for the shop’s name?
They’re good letters to look at and it just makes sense for NYC with everyone renting the entire time they’re living out here.
Tenant’s mission is to “support New York City’s skateboarders and the individuals that inspire it.” Who are some people – from the skate scene or elsewhere – that inspire you?
Pretty much anybody I’ve ever encountered in NYC has inspired or influenced me in some capacity to do what I do and how I do it. Some for the better or for worse. The likes of Billy Rohan, Keith Hufnagel, Rob Harris, Pyrce Holmes, Pat Murray, Peter Sidlauskas, Lurker Lou, John Shanahan, Jamal Williams, DQM, Quartersnacks, Benny G, Labor, Autumn, Charles Lamb, Kris Buhidar, Official New York, Jesse Villanueva, Yaje Popson, Dick Rizzo and so many more have inspired me in countless ways.
Beyond the in-house line, Tenant offers a spectrum of brands, from mainstays to the more obscure labels. When curating items to sell in the store, what do you look for in a brand?
I look for quality, thoughtfulness, authenticity, the idea that I would want to purchase it myself – and if people are genuinely checking for it.
What’s the coolest thing about owning a skate shop?
It’s being able to have a creative platform that is so diverse and ambiguous. There are truly no rules to skateboarding and we can take this any direction we want. But also always keeping what our customers and the community wants to see out of us in the back of our mind.
At the end of the day, being a skate shop is a civil duty. There’s really not a lot of money in what we do but as long as I get to keep these doors open for all the people of this and the next generation of NYC skateboarding that’s all that matters.
Tenant just celebrated its fifth anniversary. What’s the most out of pocket moment you’ve experienced in the past five years?
It’s probably the video of a guy in the Woody costume from Toy Story getting sturdy to Pop Smoke at our skate contest with Alltimers a few years back. That video took an insane life of its own.
@cambuxaplenty♬ original sound - Cambuxaplenty
Tenant is also known for its events and naturally, the anniversary is being commemorated with a big party. What role do these events play in fostering community?
Having grown up in Manhattan and lived through all these amazing skateboard events that I was so fortunate to go to as a kid, it feels really good to somewhat carry that same torch as a small skate shop in NYC. All these events we throw really bring a ton of random groups together and blur the line of all the different skate crews that encompass the scene. It forces everyone to just come as themselves and never have to put on this NYC cool guy act to have a good time. It’s always our daily job to be the glue and driving force of the skate community but the type of events we put on really showcase that to another level.
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