New shop offers just what sportboarders need

As parents Tony and Jaime Brunner looked on, 10-year-old Steven and his helmeted, 3-year-old brother Bear practiced propelling their skateboards up into the air, hanging parallel midflight and landing flat-footed on the carpeted floor. While the center aisle inside the Brunner’s new Hayden sportboard shop 208SK8, flanked by clothing, shoes and a skater’s smorgasbord of accessories, might not have been the best place to practice, their sons’ four-wheeled inclinations – and the store itself – should come as no surprise to the couple.

After all, the rush from being strapped in, or standing on, a four-wheel vehicle of any kind is a Brunner family trait. And it’s just the kind of behavior that’s encouraged at the family-owned 208SK8, which offers a variety of skateboards, snowboards, wakeboards and snowskates – a strapless winter board that can be used in any snowed-in backyard – in addition to clothing, padding and a full-service skate shop.

“Speed is in the blood. Once you get that itch, it’s something you just can’t get rid of,” said Tony, who raced professionally in California from 1999 to 2000 in the Speedtruck series. His parents also raced vehicles, including his mother who wore wooden blocks so her feet would reach the pedals.

However, the long road leading from the California racetrack to North Idaho business owner has been marked by misfortune, determination and some well-placed words of advice.

As California natives, both Tony, 30, and Jamie, 28, were influenced by the state’s Southern lifestyle, where skateboarding and surfing exist side by side. Until February 2002, the family had been living on an avocado farm in the San Diego area when a grove fire swept through their valley. Save for a few small items found in the ashes of their former home, the family lost everything.

“We lost everything we owned; we only had the clothes on our backs. We had to start over,” Tony recalled, while standing behind the counter of their board shop. “The winds were blowing 80 miles an hour, it was like a firestorm. … It was just kind of surreal.”

While the Brunners had been mulling over a move to a more family friendly environment to raise their kids, the fire set the plan in motion. After overseeing the construction and sale of the home over their destroyed dwelling’s foundation, Tony and the rest of the Brunner family several years ago followed the advice of friends and took a trip to the Inland Northwest.

And just as they claimed, seeing really was believing.

“It’s that old chestnut: We fell in love with the place,” he said. “The mountains, the lake, it’s a totally different way of living.”

Once here, the couple were surprised to find that board sports are as prevalent here as anywhere else. From the Post Falls’ skate park and Lake City’s wood and concrete retreat, to the mountain resorts dotting the Panhandle, the area is full of boardable terrain. “There are a lot more board-friendly people here,” Jamie said.

Still, it took a few years of working in the Spokane area as a food distributor before Tony could turn his sideline interests into a commercial venture. Tony’s long workdays and stressful delivery route helped seal the deal for the family in opening the sportboard store. With a business plan in mind, the area code-inspired name 208SK8 and the support of family and friends, including nearby business owner Dan Golebiewski from Dan’s Tattoo Shop, the Brunners opened the all-things-board store last November.

“I thought it was a great idea. This area needed something like that,” said Golebiewski, about the first time he met his Highway 95-adjacent neighbor. “He’s coming in with a different attitude, a bit cheaper and a little more independent.”

“We hit all your boarding needs,” Tony said, adding that as a locally owned shop rather than a corporate chain, he can keep his costs low, change prices to match fluctuations in the economy and work with customers to find the perfect sportboard fit. In addition to the assembly-line, full-service section where customers can build a skateboard from scratch, the store carries products from up-and-coming designers and companies, Tony said. “We try to carry stuff that nobody else carries.”

Since opening, they’ve started sponsoring a five-person 208SK8 skateboard team, which Tony said he hopes will compete in local competitions, as well as perform in an 18-foot, custom skate trailer they can park behind the store. Despite weather that’s not ideal for most boarding seasons, Tony said the response from the community has been great. “It’s been a total life change, it’s been nothing but good,” he said.

The business has provided the Brunners the added benefit of being able to spend more time with their two boys, their extended families in the area and become more involved in the community. “It gives us a lot of freedom,” Jamie said.

Added Tony: “Life’s too short not to have fun.”