Called around everywhere in LA to see if they carried Impala. Maintain was the only place that had…read moreit and was open. Alex (the owner I believe) is a really helpful guy. Skating every weekend and getting fresh air does wonders on your mental health. Go out and support this amazing local business!

Had a great experience getting my kid his first board. Alex was super helpful, patient, and…read moreexplained everything as he put the board together. Love having this spot in our neighborhood!

Skating on Los Angeles streets is tricky. Drivers hardly pay attention to you, right-on-red turns…read morecan kill you (literally) even at car speeds that seem negligible, and there's really no such thing as body armor save a helmet and some knee/wrist pads. Over the years, I've gravitated more to beach boardwalks and really don't participate in street skating any longer. So...stupid me, still chasing the high, decides it would be fun to race an e-bike. It's at the beach and the floor is well paved. What's the worst that could happen? Well, I'll tell you! I cracked my skates in half (yes, both of them), rendering them useless. The girl riding the bike asked dryly if I needed any help to get up. I didn't but I took her up on the offer so that I'd have some assistance lifting my ego off of the sandy floor. We had a good laugh. You would think that near the beach, there is surely an in-line skate store or some shop that carries a few options for skates and rollerblades. Would you be surprised to know there are ZERO in the immediate beach areas of South Bay? None. (You'll have to go to Lawndale.) I walked myself to Hermosa Cyclery and the kind beings tried not to look at me with too much pity as they gave me hydrogen peroxide and some bandaids. I rented a bike to maximize my day, but having a basket in front of you isn't the same as free-skating on the boardwalk. Fast forward until I found Intuition Skate. Adam and Eric were the reps who helped me on different occasions. During my first visit, I was just checking out the store and tried on a few brands and models. They didn't have the color I wanted in stock. (Black is so sexy to me, despite all the yogurt-y and pastel cutie patooties.) It was probably due to Big Avocado Roll (look it up!), but Adam equipped me with enough knowledge on what to look for when I had an opportunity to browse their website. He was going to host LA Skate Hunnies after work, but he still made the time to answer all my questions without any rush or pressure. When I returned the following week, Eric was opening up the shop. I was fairly certain about what I wanted but he was still ok with my trying on a few different options, just to be sure. I must say, it's really nice to speak with reps who have a skating and/or teaching background. Not only can we commiserate over our bruises and successes, but they really know what they're talking about. If you provide a few parameters on your skating locations, frequency, lifestyle, etc., they will help navigate ideal options for your needs. Another plus is that Intuition is not cashless. You can bring all of your dolla dolla bills and they won't look at you oddly and ask if you have Apple Pay. I'll be back on the beach thanks to Intuition Skate!

I can not say enough positive about the help I got from them. I had k2 skates with bones bearings…read more One of the wheels had trouble getting the bearings off. He spent 15 minutes trying to get that off. The spacer was bad. They put on a new spacer and new bearing, because they could only get one bearing off. All that and only charged $5. They also said the k2 screw was wrong size for the axle. He took my number and said if he finds a screw he will call me and put it in free. When I got home I found the right screw. Called back to let him know. Very professional and courteous. So greatful to have a shop like that in santa monica.

Best skate shop I've been too, i got a few advice and tips for setting up a board, got a whole…read morecustom set for only $160 and they also build the board for you, they are very helpful and fun to talk too. Would recommend to go to this place for your first skateboard.

If you are a true skater, America's Best Choice, SKB Inc. is your best choice for upgrading your…read moredeck, getting wheels and barring for your skates, or just putting together your brand new professional quality skateboard. One grandmother wanted to buy her grandson a skateboard for Christmas. Grandma went to Walmart, so proud of her purchase. Son's father tells Grandma to get her money back because Grandson is not a beginner. Grandson is glad, but the challenge is how to get the most for Grandma's low budget. We thought to support the local skate shop, but America's Best Choice SKB price for a brand new set up deck and all was 20-30% less cost than the local shop. Plus, they put together the new board on the spot at no extra cost. So why would you go to any other shop when you can go to a one-stop-shop like America'a Best Choice SKB Inc? It's a no brainer!

This place is a small gem. Always really welcoming, helpful, and nice staff, cool selection of…read morelocally made apparel, zines, and true surf fanatic gear and equipment. Great selection of used boards. Hope it stays around forever, even though there are so many changes taking place on the surrounding blocks.

TL:DR - Friendly customer service, bad surfboard repair job…read more This is going to be a long review, but if you want the short of it. -Took my longboard in, to repair a scrape, and get it color matched. -Got back a repair job that isn't color matched at all. The repair isn't even flush with the board. -Got more dings on my board than when I took it to them. -Check the photos. If you surf in California, it's not a matter of IF you'll get a ding on your board, it's a matter of WHEN. All the surf spots are lined with rocky shores that will ding your board. I am no exception to this rule and have dinged my longboards many more times than I can count. The one upside to this, is that I've become really good at repairing dings of all kinds. Whether it be on the bottom, the rail, the tail, the nose, anything I can do. What I can't do though, is color match. That is a magic unto itself. I was looking to sell an orange longboard of mine, but it had a scrape on the bottom side of it. It's not deep and it didn't crack through to the foam. If I wasn't planning on selling the board, I'd sand it down, fill it up with a little bit of Q-fill if it needed it, then fiberglass over it. Done and Done! BUT, I want to sell it, so it needs to look good, it needs to be color matched, and it needs to work. I heard a lot of great things about the repair jobs from Bay Street Boards, and decided to take it to them to color match and fix it. BIG MISTAKE. I should've known better when I pulled up to the shop and saw someone balancing a 9ft' longboard over their knees while scraping off wax. No stand, the board just wobbling about, almost hitting the concrete ground. Yeesh. I relayed all the info above to the repair guy and he said it was doable. He said color matching is tricky, but that'd he get it close enough. I was charged a $120 and left my board with them. I wasn't in any rush to get my board back, and it was about 5 weeks before I could pick it up. Is this fast or slow? I'm not sure, like I said, I do my own repairs and can fully repair a ding in a day. PRO-TIP: if you are going to get your board repaired by a surf shop, remove all the wax off of your board. There are 2 reasons for this: 1. If there is any wax near the damaged spot it will fuck up the repair. Wax will gum up the sanding pads, it will interact poorly with the resin, and it gets everywhere. Take it off. The repair guys will love you for it. 2. Removing the wax, will give you a very intimate look at your board. You will see any dings or damages that you hadn't noticed before. This is also important because it gives you a reference point and will let you know if the surf shop messed up your board even more. (Foreshadowing) I pick up my board and in the dim light of the surf shop, I can tell the color match isn't even close. It looks like they sanded over it with a too high of a grit sanding pad, and then glassed over it. They didn't sand it down at all to smooth out the fiberglass texture, and they certainly didn't add any dye to the resin to try and color match it. What the fuck?! In the dim light of the shop, I didn't notice that the sanding job was shitty too, it wasn't even flush with the board at all. There's a couple small depressions where the ding is and it's wavy. If you're going to do a shit job, at least make it flush. Every surfer knows to make the board flush on the bottom, you want that water to glide over it without any friction. At home, I had more time to study the board and found even more issues. I noticed that there were small gravel sized dings on the bottom of my board. Each dug into the board about an 1/8 inch. I know these were not there before because of having de-waxed my board and because these are literally impossible for me to get while surfing. These could only occur if you put a surfboard down on concrete/gravel ground to work it. (Remember that guy outside the shop.) Just to hammer home the case, the ding by the finbox can ONLY occur when there is no fin in. Nothing could hit the finbox at all with a fin in. And how do I know I didn't have these dings beforehand, refer to pro-tip #2. Another thing I noticed were resin drips on the bottom of the board that had hardened. This isn't that bad of an issue to correct, just a little sanding, but the fact that they did that, let's me know that they're sloppy and don't pay attention to details. Overall, this was a terrible experience. I paid a $120, for a bad repair job that I'll have to undo AND I have new smaller dings on the board that I'll also have to fix. Yeeew!

possibly the best skate shop to ever have existed. i showed up around 6:30pm and they brought me…read moreinside, helped me set up my board, had a fantastic conversation, and right as i was about to leave, they mentioned that THEY HAD CLOSED AT 6PM FOR COVID. THESE DUDES STRAIGHT UP HELPED ME THE MOST EVEN THO THEY WERE CLOSED NO QUESTIONS ASKED. that being said, please call ahead and check their hours, cause i felt super bad that i had made them stay. thanks so much non factory! y'all the best!! *bonus points that skrillex comes here

Keith was super helpful and patient as I tried to decide on a board. He was really fun to talk to…read moreand pulled out so many options for me. I walked out pretty happy with what I got. This is a great spot that supports Asian skaters.

Beautiful shop with a helpful crew. Thanks guys ! Love the shrine…read more Will definitely visit again.

I've passed by this place countless times because I used to live very close by, have even dined…read morenext-door, but for some reason I had never checked Mollusk out. Decided to change that this past weekend and I was really impressed with what I saw inside. This Venice location is the second of three locations that they have. The first was their San Francisco shop that opened in 2005, this one in 2007, and their newest being Santa Barbara in 2020. Everything is a bit expensive, but they use high-quality materials and attention to detail. The staff was also very friendly. This location has a small free parking lot attached right in front, otherwise there is a pay lot close by. They have a lot of gear and apparel, but most of what I saw was apparel. Pricing is high, but the designs are unique, and I was able to find a great sweater and shirt. I would suggest.

In business for almost 50 years and inducted into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame back in 2023, this…read moreis definitely one of the most famous skate shops in LA, and I would argue one of the more influential in general. Inside is fairly small, but it's packed with a lot of great gear and clothing. The staff was also very friendly, and I felt pricing was fair. They really have some great designs, and you can really find some unique self-branded and national brands. I would definitely recommend to anyone and everyone.

This spot is such a cool homage to skating. When I came here, I was able to pick up a cool SMA deck…read morefrom Bennett Harada. Chris and Freddy were really welcoming and helpful. The deck options seemed a bit smaller but they had a lot more of the local and hard to find decks. This place has a special place in my world of skating. Definitely worth checking out, even for all the skate history pieces they have hanging up.

One of my favorite surf shops in Los Angeles. This location has been open since 2010, and every…read moretime I stop in, there is something great to get. They have all sorts of apparel and gear so whatever you are looking for, you will be able to find here. The staff was also very friendly and helpful in choosing some items. Inside is also organized really well, and they really do have a good amount of inventory. There is a small free parking lot attached in the back that you access via the alley, or it's usually easy to find free street parking in front. I know they have an online shop as well, so would definitely be someplace I would recommend if you have any interest in surf apparel or gear.

Super friendly and knowledgeable staff! Great surf shop in the neighborhood that also has some…read moresurf skate gear like carvers as well as accessories and repair foam for foamies which I purchased. I love how they often host events for members of the local surf community such as Venice surfing association. Highly recommend ! Come support your local shop !