“Fuck The Cops”, “For The Children”, “Frisco Taking Control”, “For The City”... no matter what you think the three letters of this San Francisco skateshop/brand stand for, you can be sure that the company itself has always stood for one thing: skateboarding.
Founded by Kent Uyehara in 1986, not long before vert and the entire skate industry took a massive dump, FTC helped usher in street skating and foster a new breed of skateboarder. With the legendary EMB and the buzz around it drawing in some of the best skaters from around the world, SF became the undisputed skate mecca of the 90's with FTC being the backbone of the scene and, not coincidentally, one of the most influential skate shops ever. Pumas and shell toes? Del and Hieroglyphics? Thank FTC for the introduction. They helped popularize trends, promoted music and, more importantly, sponsored dozens of ams who would later go on to become some of the most familiar names in skateboarding today. Names like Mike Carroll, Henry Sanchez, Eric Koston, Jovontae Turner, Marcus Mcbride, Keith Hufnagel, Mike York, Scott Johnston, Bobby Puleo, Rick Howard, Chico Brenes and many, many more. By the mid 90's it was hard to find a popular pro who wasn't sponsored by them, and sure they all got free t-shirts and griptape and the usual perks of having a shop sponsor, but FTC has always offered more than simply tangible items to it's riders. They give back to those who have helped make their business succeed whether it's a small loan of product or cash, finding them housing, or getting them out of jail if and when they get arrested. It's a comparison that's being overused and misappropriated by a lot of companies these days but it's safe to say that being a part of FTC Skateboarding is like being a part of a family, for real.
It's been more than 20 years since they first opened and they're going stronger now than ever. They've got locations in SF, Sacramento and Tokyo, an in house skateboard brand called Western Edition, their own line of FTC branded streetwear that's 50 pieces deep, they're working on their 5th video and they've got an obvious appreciation for who and what has brought them this far. FTC Skateboarding is definitely doing it right. 
THE OLD SHRADER ST LOCATION
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A few facts you may or may not have known about FTC Skateboarding:
- FTC has had three locations in SF: Bush Street (1986-1994), Shrader Street (1994-2003) and Haight Street (2003-now).
- In 1991 FTC teamriders Jovontae Turner, Henry Sanchez and others were invited to Hong Kong to be stuntmen in the Jackie Chan Movie "City Hunter". Rick Ibaseta was Jackie's skate stunt double. The movie sucked but Jackie went on to be a huge international star anyway.
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Jim Thiebaud was the first FTC pro teamrider. His first FTC ad was in Poweredge mag since Thrasher wouldn't let them advertise yet. They were told at the time that FTC wasn't core enough.
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FTC has a "loan book" that many pros and ams have been included in. Jovontae Turner had the largest tab ever totaling over $5000 in merchandise loans on the books.
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The original FTC team consisted of Mike Carroll, Greg Carroll, Rick Ibaseta and Jovontae Turner. Then Jim. Then Henry Sanchez. Then the rest!
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Del The Funky Homosapien drew the original cover artwork for the first FTC video "Finally" that featured Mike Carroll, Keith Hufnagel, Chico Brenes and many more.
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At Bush Street Kent starting taking collateral (cell phones, jewelry, etc) for risky product loan applicants. Like a pawn shop, if the loan was past due your watch or pager would be put on display for sale. Kent's still rocking Mike Cao's Gucci watch today. |
