Free Grip #8 with Josh Yandell from Pistole Boardshop

In this edition of Free Grip with chat with Josh Yandell from Pistole Boardshop in Spokane, WA and Coeur d'Alene, ID.

Hey Josh, thanks for taking some time to answer some questions. Let's start with some easy stuff, when did you get into skating?

I got into skating early 90s. It was baggy pants, small wheels (bearing covers) and vhs skate tapes 

Give us some details on the Spokane area for the people who aren't familiar. What’s it like living there and skating? 

Spokane is great, big but not too big. Lots of lakes and mountains. It has 3 skateparks all different from each other, and 5 ski areas to ride.

Sounds glorious. How long has it been since you opened the shop now? 

I opened the shop in 2008.

Not a lot of shops make it this long, that’s a hell of a run! How did it all happen?

I was getting out of repping brands in the northwest. My whole life I’d been involved in the skate and snowboard industry, so the next step that made sense was to open my own shop. It all worked out great, made lots of friends and shop riders. It was a good time, and still is.

Seems like a natural transition. Running a skate shop in 2024 is a challenge, I hear a lot of doom and gloom out there. What are the challenges you have dealt with over the years? And how do you or are you handling them?

There’s always challenges to a business. My stores are both in downtown locations so that comes with challenges, but get a security system and some bars on the windows. It helps you sleep better at night. And then it comes down to carrying the right products, keeping it all stocked up, and keeping the kids stoked.

That last part! I'm always interested in what sells in different shops/areas. What is really keeping the doors open right now sales wise?

It changes from season to season, but Nike always sells for us. I stock a ton of different skate brands, like Space Program, Opera and Jacuzzi Unlimited are some of our best selling, but there are also a lot of other brands that do good for us, and it all depends on what the customer wants. Everyone has their favorites. For us, we sell snowboards and gear too, but it’s skate and shoes that keep the doors open. We put it all back into the shop. I like to keep it full of options with over 100 styles of shoes on the wall and over 200 pro decks.

That’s definitely important, because having a good selection makes it easier for people to reliably count on you guys having what they want. What’s been something you’ve enjoyed about running the shop, that maybe you weren’t expecting when you started?

Friendships. It’s rad to see groms come in and now they’re all grown up and some have families. To see some of the skater’s progress, it’s wild. My store manager started coming in when he was in middle school and he’s now worked for me for over 8 years. I’ve started a family of my own. I’ve been able to raise my kids and have a pretty free schedule to be a dad, as I can do my part at home since I have good employees, which makes it all worth it. I swing in the shops a couple times a week randomly.

Friends and family, (however cliche) is really what it’s all about. Besides Pistole of course, what shops that have been important to you?

When I was a rep, I loved going in to SnoCon (rip), exit in Portland and all the dudes at 35th ave. I grew up riding for a shop in Coeur d’Alene Idaho called Shred Shed. Tom the owner had a huge impact on me growing up and was one of the only skate/ snow shops in the spokane Cd’A area.

Damn I remember SnoCon stickers everywhere as a kid. And shout out Dave at 35th ave. Ok some fun stuff! Who's your favorite NW skaters right now?

So many great skaters hard to pick just one, but my team guys. I’m so proud of them and they have been such a huge part of the shop. I can’t thank them enough, they’re family and I’m super proud of them all.

Love it. How important is the new skatepark to cultivating the local scene?

It’s huge. I spent 16 years being an advocate for more parks in town, and jumped through all the hoops to get our newest one built at Riverfront Park with the parks department. A skatepark is an important safe place to skate without being chased off, and being able to be around other skaters to feed off of and get hyped. I mean, it’s the best place on earth to a lot of skaters.

And what about street skating, how is the vibe in the city right now?

It’s good. The streets is where it all starts. Rough roads, stairs, ledges, all that is the heart of skating and all the other chaos that goes with street skating in a city. You never know what you’ll find or see.

Who’s killing it in Spokane specifically right now that we should know about?

Austin Visintainer and Jordan Rosales have been giving it a beating for years, and there are a lot of really good skaters here, hard to pick a few. In the Cd’A area the Holts! Simon and Micah, rad dudes. All these guys have been on a board at such a young age and all have been on the team since they were groms.

I was watching Simon skate the other day at the Northwest Open and he rips. We’re fans around here, definitely wanna see more Simon footy! Favorite local videos or parts people should watch?

Hard one, lots of local videos over the years, all were great. The Space Program just released a new video Blue Marble, has a few of our guys in it. And check out Abracadabra video, a local spokane video. Double Vision, ‘The Collective’ a Pistole video and Folklore. We’re lucky here with Mike Miller, Justin Marko and Joel Barbour. They’ve made some great movies over the years for our local skate scene. 

Ok sick, I gotta catch up on a few of those! Alright well let’s go out stoked, like the Mostly Skateboarding pod. What is something the shop does that you're stoked on?

We’ve been able to help some of our riders get sponsored in skating and snowboarding. That always stokes me to help open doors. It’s a rad community and we’re lucky to have a lot of talented people be a part of it. Doing events is always a good time. And when you get to set up somebody’s first skateboard, that’s the best.

Yes! Thanks again Josh.

You can keep up with Josh and Pistole on Instagram.