Baker Skateboards

American skateboarding company

Baker Skateboards is an American skateboarding company founded in 2000 by professional skateboarder Andrew Reynolds. The company's main products are skateboard decks, soft goods, accessories, and wheels.

In 1999, Reynolds went to a secret lunch meeting with Tony Hawk & Per Welinder and started Baker Skateboards without J. Strickland's knowledge or any of the original riders. In 2007, the skateboard deck brand signed a distribution deal with Blitz Distribution, the company that, at the time, was distributing Birdhouse and other brands, such as Fury and Hook Ups (Blitz had originally been formed by Per Welinder and Hawk to distribute their own products). As of 2008, the brand was the top selling brand under the Blitz Distribution umbrella. In regard to the original Baker logo, Reynolds has credited the design to co founder J Strickland and stated that it represented a motley company that consisted of talented skateboarders. Riley Hawk, son of professional skateboarder and company owner Tony Hawk, joined the Baker team in 2012 after riding for his father's company, Birdhouse.

The RIDE Channel, a YouTube skateboarding channel co founded by Hawk, announced on March 15, 2013, that a new series, entitled "Baker Zone," would commence on March 18, 2013. The series features video productions from the Baker company, such as "Weekend Warriors," "Piled Out," "Trash Compactor," and "Dumb Ass Park Footy."

Created by England born artist Mark "Fos" Foster, the Heroin brand was named after Fos' addiction to "skateboarding." The global premiere of the Heroin skateboards video, Video Nasty, was held in Los Angeles, US on June 27, 2013, and included parts from Chet Childress, Deer Man of Dark Woods, Daniel Shimizu, Gou Myagi, Rogie, and Tom Day. Foster's debut American art show, "Diamonds And The Rough," was presented at the Kingswell Gallery in Los Angeles, US, on June 14, 2014.

Palace Skateboards was founded around 2011 in England, United Kingdom by Lev Tanju, who was part of a London based skate crew known as the Palace Wayward Boys Choir. Tanju enlisted the assistance of friends like graphic designer Fergus "Fergadelic" Purcell (also design director at Marc by Marc Jacobs) and photographer Will Bankhead to launch the brand. Tanju explained in 2014: "I just wanted to make some skateboards that looked nice and skated nice."

Greco's skateboard and clothing brand "Hammers" was launched in October 2014 as part of Bakerboys Distribution. Greco explained in August 2014 that the brand is "based on individuality, the pure moment of creation It's just based on creating." In the first Hammers catalog, Greco explains that the company's products are made in the U. S. " which in turn creates American jobs and manufactures better products."