San Antonians might make a 180 after they learn of the newest Cali import the city is gaining. A California transplant and San Antonio native are teaming up to bring the West Coast’s skate culture to the Alamo City.
Raymond Hernandez and Daniel Ortiz will open Skates on Deck in Alamo Ranch at 11841 Alamo Ranch Parkway on September 17, a few-and-far-between, mom-and-pop shop that will bring a “Cali flavor, but make it Texas.”
Skates on Deck will be a full services skate shop that offers boards, wheels, clothing and shoes from brands that most skaters are familiar with, but Hernandez says that the shop is also bringing brands that really kicked off the skateboard scene in California, like Madrid Skateboards.
Madrid Skateboards has been around since 1976, and was the brand that created the skateboard used by the character Marty McFly in Back to the Future Part II.
The clothing, picked with the help of their wives Melanie Ortiz and Theresa Hernandez, will include brands like Pink Dolphin, Fallen, and Merge 4 Socks.
Hernandez said the Skates on Deck will also allow customers to build their own custom skateboard — from the board to the wheels and trucks.
Skates of Deck will also have custom artists on hand, most of which are tattoo artists from his tattoo shops Ink Masters Tattoo Studio, to help those who want to create a custom design for their board.
Eventually, Hernandez also hopes to build an indoor skate park under the Skates on Deck brand.
“We want to create an experience,” Ortiz says. “A place where kids can come in and just feel accepted. We want to create an environment where they feel welcomed.”
Hernandez grew up in Compton, a neighborhood that’s predominantly Black and Latino. He started skating when he was 13, fitting right into the scene and taking part in small competitions here and there. Now 46, he stopped skating 20 years ago.
Growing up in California, Hernandez was exposed to homegrown brands like Black Label Skateboards, Scum Skateboards and Destruction Skateboards.
Last time he tried skating, he broke a finger.
He and his family moved to San Antonio seven years ago. He met Ortiz, 34, in the sales office of the neighborhood where they were buying homes for their families.
Ortiz grew up on the Westside and hung out with the skaters in school and dabbled a bit with skating for fun, but never really went beyond that. Instead he went on to graduate college and created a professional services firm.
Almost serendipitously, Ortiz and Hernandez became neighbors. Now they’re business partners, but Hernandez, who lost his brother in 2001, says Ortiz is like his little brother.
Raymond Hernandez (left) and Daniel Ortiz (right) are hoping to create a place where the skateboard community can grow outside of the inner city.
Courtesy of Skates on Deck
Skates on Deck is just the first piece in a Hernandez and Ortiz’s bigger plan — to build on the skater community on the Far Westside to the point where Skates on Deck eventually becomes a platform to help sponsor and launch pro-skaters.
“Hopefully we can make a good team and a good name here in Texas that could, who knows, get kids to the Olympics,” Hernandez says.
Hernandez, who owns Ink Masters Tattoo Studio with locations in Laredo, Arlington, Waxahachie, Miami and Pensacola and is the founder of the Ink Masters Tattoo Show, already has that marketing and sponsor support, especially from brands like Monster Energy, which told him that they would be on board to help kick things off.
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