Rio Hondo College Newspaper

El Paisano

Rio Hondo College Newspaper

El Paisano

Rio Hondo College Newspaper

El Paisano

Southern California skateboarding company rises in popularity

The traditional standards of skateboarding have officially been broken, as rising skateboard company, “Welcome Skateboards”, has been filling up local skate shops with their products, and creating a new popular trend among skateboarders everywhere.

Welcome combines “old-school” skateboarding with a modern touch, creating this unorthodox style of skateboarding which has become the “Welcome” style. Custom creative grip tape, classic 1980’s and 1990’s skateboarding tricks and simply not caring about what others think sums up what Welcome is all about.

With a wide variety of different unique shaped and sized boards, “trippy” hand drawn artwork and creative slogans printed on boards, Welcome is definitely setting themselves apart from every other skateboard company currently in business.

The company was started in late 2009 by Jason Celaya in Mission Viejo.

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“I started it at the end of 2009 with $2,000. We have no investors or loans…truly independent,” says Celaya in an interview with The Boardr [a skate shop located in Tampa, Florida.]

“Ultimately it was started because there wasn’t a single company that either had boards how I wanted them or had a team I related to. But, it wasn’t planned out at all. I drew an owl with a Sharpie marker and really wanted to make it a functional non-popsicle board (not a cruiser or old school board),” stated Celaya.

What began as an independent free-spirited idea has now grown to become a successful company and rising trend in the world of skateboarding.

Their products are now available almost everywhere throughout the United States, via local skate shops and Welcome’s online store. Their boards are selling at high numbers everywhere and are being seen more frequently at skate parks around Southern California and beyond.

“It’s crazy to see how it started out as a small company with only two boards, and now it’s a popular, high in-demand company, that is setting off a new trend among skaters right now,” says Rio Hondo student Jordan Flores, who has been following the company since its establishment.

Flores was introduced to the company through his close friend, Alex Asher, who happens to be the second-cousin of Welcome owner Celaya.

“My guess as to why they’re so successful and why their boards are top-sellers is probably because they just separate themselves from every other company. Creativity and originality will go a long way for you,” said Flores.

Local community skateboarder and former Rio Hondo student, Eric Ramirez, said, “I’m starting to see skaters riding their boards at my local skate park and as long as they keep spreading the word about the company with their friends, Welcome is only going to grow bigger and bigger as the years go by.”

As popular as the company has grown to become, so has its merchandise products, such as t-shirts and sweaters. These shirts and sweaters all feature unique graphics and slogans as well as the Welcome logo and have been seen worn at music festivals, in the streets and even on campus at Rio.

The logo Welcome uses is a triangle with three eyes (giving it an illuminati-esque feel) surrounded by a skateboard symbol, an anchor type symbol and arrows pointing in different directions.

The team consists of riders such as Nolan Johnson, Chris “Mango” Millic, Logan Lara, Daniel Vargas and Nora Vasconcellos (the only female team rider).

Most recently Vargas and girlfriend, Vasconcellos, both competed this past summer at the Vans U.S. Open of Surfing during the male and female skateboarding competitions.

Welcome’s products, videos and full list of team riders are viewable at http://welcomeskateboards.com/.

Welcome Skateboards video via YouTube.

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