To celebrate twenty years of serving skaters, Louisiana-based skateshop Rukus hosted a grand reopening party at their Baton Rouge location. On November 7th, hundreds of sneakerheads and skaters alike showed up to hang out and show love to the shop. Plenty of people showed up in their "Crawfish" dunks, a shoe which Rukus collaborated with Nike SB on back in 2014. Festivities kicked off at noon with free bowls of pastalaya (look it up) and a custom clothing design station. Patrons were able to design their own anniversary apparel by choosing from a handful of t-shirt options and a multitude of iron-on graphics. Later that day, Rukus debuted a short preview of a documentary filmed by shop employee Trey Abrams which aims to shed some light on the origins of the brand and recap some of their favorite memories from the past two decades. Keep your eyes out for the full version premiering sometime in early 2021 - you're not going to want to miss it as this documentary is packed with stories which predate the internet. Local artists also contributed to the celebration and showcased new installations which will reside in the store. Muralist MarcFreshArt arrived with a massive mural commemorating the different eras of Nike SB shoeboxes. Wood-worker Daniel Barousse brought in a towering 6-foot sculpture made from recycled skateboards along with a small army of mini-sculptures. Citing his inspiration, Barousse says, "This sculpture pays homage to the iconic sculpture at Love Park in Philadelphia which played a massive role in skateboarding’s history and culture as a whole." While the party was packed with exciting events from start to finish, the greatest takeaway was the sense of community and support present throughout the day. In a year plagued by a pandemic, Rukus found a way to give back to their audience while simultaneously allowing them to partake in the celebration just as much. To everyone at the shop: thanks for the last twenty years; we're looking forward to the next twenty.
All images are courtesy of Houston Dragna.
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