Jordan Fjordback, a former Oak Cliff high school teacher, who became a back-end app developer, has purchased Trademarked Skate Co. The company is a Michigan-based company established by a non-skater for non-skaters who want to partake in ‘skate culture.’
According to a report by The Dallas Morning News, 29-year-old Fjordback said that the business opportunity came from purchasing a unique bright yellow jumpsuit from a collaboration between Cait Raft and Trademarked Skate Co.
Soon after buying the jumpsuit, Fjordback learned that Trademarked Skate Co. was about to shut down.
“There was a brand that was giving space to a creator I love, in honor of a culture I admire, and it was shutting down. I thought, ‘I want to do that. I want to provide that space,'” the 29-year-old said.
Upon hearing of the company’s intended shutdown, Fjordback made a move to buy Trademarked Skate Co. from former owner Rocco Tenaglia III, who was initially unwilling to sell.
According to Fjordback, Tenaglia was consumed with other responsibilities, and he could no longer juggle them with the online company. The former owner was determined to shut it down and see it through to the end as he wanted the company to be known as a “blip in non-skater history.”
After a few months of persuasion from Fjordback, Tenaglia eventually agreed to sell the company. He sold the label to Fjordback for $250. Now, the next generation of non-skaters can continue to express themselves through skate fashion.
For Fjordback, who never learned to skate, the culture and aesthetic of skateboarding are appealing. “It’s being unapologetically yourself,” Fjordback said.
“Trademarked Skate Co. is for the person who has skater friends but doesn’t skate themselves,” Fjordback said of the brand. “It’s for those who logged ninety hours of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 but never ended up buying a board.”