When Chris Atchison was 14 years old, skateboarding became a lifestyle instead of just a hobby.
Like most teenaged riders, Atchison dreamed of being a professional, and he constructed ramps for practice and training toward his goal. He knew he wanted skateboarding to be his life, so when he realized turning pro wasn’t going to happen, he looked for another outlet.
During his senior year of high school, he began the work on what would become South Central Skateboarding Manufacturing, now located in Elmore, Alabama.
“When I was 14, I skated all the time,” Atchison said. “I kind of wanted to be a pro skateboarder, but that wasn’t going to happen. I wasn’t good enough, so I decided to do the next best thing, and that’s make skateboards.
“I was used to building ramps and stuff, so I was familiar with woodwork and I liked working with wood. So I combined that with my love of skateboarding to start making skateboards.”
Atchison started out in 1992 by ordering blank decks from California, printing his own logo on them and selling them to local riders. Once he raised enough money, he began pressing boards in his bedroom and on the back porch at his parents’ house.
“At first, it was a little difficult. I had to learn everything by trial and error,” Atchison said. “At the time, there weren’t many manufacturers, and the process was top secret.
“For the first two or three years while I was perfecting my process, I started a window washing company. I would wash windows during the day, go to college at night and make skateboards on the weekend.”
After traveling to various demos, contests and skate hotspots across Alabama, Florida and Georgia for a couple of years, Atchison had built up his clientele base to where he could press skateboard decks full time. Since then, South Central Skateboarding has turned into a worldwide company with Atchison shipping decks to industry big-named companies and shops from his operation in Elmore.
He’s had professionals, including professional skateboarder Jim Greco, ride his boards and has pressed decks for industry leaders, such as Five Bros and Politic out of New York and Bacon out of Portland.
“We ship to companies and shops. What they’re looking for is a skateboard made from Canadian hardwood maple or American hardwood maple with a certain shape and with whatever graphics they want on them,” he said. “But they’re also looking for someone who will give them good service.”
Due to the ever-evolving pace of the skateboard industry, Atchison said, his company makes several shapes and sizes of decks, doing it all from start to finish.
“We do to the nearest end 16th-inch sheet, run it through the glue spread, press it up and cut them out. We finish them out and put graphics on them,” Atchison said.
“Up until 10 years ago, the concaves on the decks changed a fair amount. The past 10, we’ve been lucky that the concaves have stayed about the same. Shapes are constantly changing, especially recently. Everybody wants to go with at least retro shape in his or her skateboard lines now. We do pool shapes, cruiser shapes. We’re constantly making new shapes – up to five new shapes a week.”
Much like he did in his start, Atchison said a lot of the skateboard manufacturing industry is about learning and evolving frequently.
“You learn everything. The industry has evolved over time,” he said. “We change with whatever shapes change. The concaves that are constantly changing.”
For the last 23 years, Atchison has seen his manufacturing company grow into a demanded brand in the very industry and sports world he wanted to be a part of. He said he felt like he’d be here one day; he just didn’t know when.
“It’s kind of good to reflect a little bit. It takes hard work and effort, and my margin for error is pretty small,” Atchison said. “If I was making more money, it’d be a little more rewarding. At this point, it’s a business, and it’s work.
“I’ve worked for myself for so long, it’d be tough to work for someone else. I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do.”