Koa Nalu

[mancade]

ah joe your such a romantic...

[mancade]

oh and THEY ARE ADVERTISING ON THIS PARTICULAR SITE BECAUSE I TOLD THEM ABOUT IT!! F**K F**K F**K!!!
now i went to work for them against another employees recommendation, an employee who has been a family friend of mine for years. He said it was a fustercluck, but i said "no jesse i love to skate! it'll be worth it" when they finally called me after a year of meeting all the peeps, hanging around the store and such.
Now once i got an firsthand look, see the way they run that establishment, i will not shop there again and i will strongly discourage anyone else to shop there.

cruzer- HELL YA LETS GET a sess together
hawk- take my word for it man you do NOT want to work there. not if you love skating.
joe- i cant say what might have happened if jade wore bikinis to work. Or maybe if she'd stopped talking for consecutive seconds just once in 2008, it might have been bearable. But no sir. I couldn't hack it.

[BottomShark]

Why are they advertising their site here? it has nothing to add to the fish and all of the skaters on here already now about them. The beach Zone is just up the street and they average the prices of all their boards to sell them at a decent price. I've spent a lot of money at Koa Nalu knowing about the ridiculous markup, but I've done the same at Silver just to support the local economy. I always end up going from Koa Nalu to the Beach Zone to get things mounted on my boards anyway. If you get in with the Beach Zone guys they'll let you in on the secret spot around town as well as pass along skating knowledge.

[James West Jr.]

Why are they advertising their site here? it has nothing to add to the fish and all of the skaters on here already now about them. The beach Zone is just up the street and they average the prices of all their boards to sell them at a decent price. I've spent a lot of money at Koa Nalu knowing about the ridiculous markup, but I've done the same at Silver just to support the local economy. I always end up going from Koa Nalu to the Beach Zone to get things mounted on my boards anyway. If you get in with the Beach Zone guys they'll let you in on the secret spot around town as well as pass along skating knowledge.

whats up with the hate man? maybe they are working on all those problems by hiring me.
we are going to start doing a lot for the longboarding community.

[BottomShark]

whats up with the hate man? maybe they are working on all those problems by hiring me.
we are going to start doing a lot for the longboarding community.

HAHAAHAHAHAHHAHAH! they hired you to patrol The Fish?j/k
In case you didn't read the rest of the thread its a cautionary tale about working for Koa Nalu.

and I also know about four others guys that have worked there and would say the same.
Does a blonde girl named Elizabeth still work there?

[bear]

does Koa nalu hire 15 year olds? I need to start looking for a summer job. I think it would be pretty cool to work at a place I love.

[Hawk]

whats up with the hate man? maybe they are working on all those problems by hiring me.
we are going to start doing a lot for the longboarding community.

Tell them to hire me. I can work on the weekends so you can go skate

[mancade]

dont apply. no f**k that go apply! then i wont be the only person talking sense on this thread.

best of luck. post up when you get turned down.

[Hawk]

dont apply. no f**k that go apply! then i wont be the only person talking sense on this thread.

best of luck. post up when you get turned down.

I don't know why this thread turned into a cesspool of hate directed at Koa Nalu, but y'all really should stop raging this hard over such a small thing.

Personally, I've had lots of good experience with the people there, and until they do something wrong to me, I'm gonna keep going there. I'm not gonna boycott a store just because someone I don't even know on a message board tells me not to. Especially with what little evidence that has been provided as to why it would be a bad idea to shop there besides their prices.

If anything, people should go there more so we can have more events like yesterday's bungee-cord-thing demo.

[Severian_Sidewalk_Surfer]

joe- i cant say what might have happened if jade wore bikinis to work. Or maybe if she'd stopped talking for consecutive seconds just once in 2008, it might have been bearable. But no sir. I couldn't hack it.

..................
lol I've got a Chinese girlfriend lmao I know a little bit about beautiful Asian wives (my sweetheart's mother, in this case) chattering about uh, "girl stuff" ( = babbling about nothing), at a hundred miles an hour all afternoon. China's a matriarchal culture (though the men try to pretend it isn't) and the influence extends, I'm sure, clear out to Hawaii, heheh,

Far as I know, Japan's the only Asian country where men are actually in charge. Everyplace else (so I'm told), they just pretend to be in charge, while being pussy-whipped...just like white boys grimly sipping Jack Daniels in front of the football game on TV while trying to ignore the screaming woman in the kitchen. Hey, it's funny because it's true. Some things are the same all over the world.

And I'm only laughing because I've got an oar with my name on it in that particular boat. It could've been worse, bro! I grew up in Connecticut, where I had to learn how to be unfailingly polite to sharp-tongued old preppie ice queens...now, compared to an elderly WASP, a Dragon Lady's not so bad! Old white ladies from Connecticut are the Devil, and they all dress like Nancy Reagan, in dresses and women's suits that look like 19th-century Prussian military uniforms. And the bitches are always right, just ask my grandma.

Cursing in Chinese~ Lesson For the Day: Ta da mei, lao nyu! ("Tah duh may, laow nyoo")
English Translation: "Shut up, old woman!"
(I used to say this in a very courteous tone of voice to the half-Japanese sous chef at Crazy Fish, whenever he'd come through the kitchen screaming abuse and talking sh*t...when he asked, I told him it meant "Right away, sorry, teacher!" But toward the end of my employment there, I hated him enough to have started snarling "baka gaijin!" (Japanese for "stupid foreigner!" = very rude) at him when he'd talk sh*t in Japanese with the boss (he thought we were too dumb to realize that he always switched to Japanese when trashing the staff in front of the chef). Funny how being treated like sh*t by an immigrant boss is twice as infuriating...I guess no one likes rude, bossy foreigners telling them what to do.

So yeah, I'm a romantic...but not naive Sorry they gave you a bad time. It's always the hotties, isn't it? Women get away with stuff that would get a man thrown through a window, every time.

[Severian_Sidewalk_Surfer]

I don't know why this thread turned into a cesspool of hate directed at Koa Nalu, but y'all really should stop raging this hard over such a small thing.

Personally, I've had lots of good experience with the people there, and until they do something wrong to me, I'm gonna keep going there.

Other than the boss lady reportedly being a chatterbox, I've not seen anything so damning, in this thread...I still don't get it why the former employees are so peeved. But then again, I've got a freakishly high toleance for horseshit, on account of being a restaurant guy.

As long as a boss doesn't actually hit me (the way that foreign devil chef Ono did, when I worked for his lame FOB ass at Crazy Fish Sushi), I can take screaming, yelling, you name it. So the boss talks too much...and?

Seriously, I've lived all over the U.S., and I gotta say that Albuquerque employers mistreat and abuse their employees to a degree I've never seen anywhere else. 'Burque is crawling with bloodthirsty bandidos in suits, as well as the both pretentious and hilarious moderately-successful shopkeepers who swagger around like they think they're the King of Spain just because the own a newspaper stand or whatever. A boss who chatters is annoying, but pretty small-scale, compared to the horror stories one usually hears in this city.

Poverty brings out the worst in people, and New Mexico's the poorest state in the Union, so naturally we've got lots of dreadful dead-end jobs to choose from, and crappy bosses who think their employees are the Red Cross, there to hook them up with an endless supply of something-for-nothing. No surprise there. But so what? There are plenty of awesome things about the place, too, which make putting up with our dead-end local economy worthwhile.

[Hawk]

I still don't get it why the former employees are so peeved.

That's what I was talking about.

So the boss talks too much...and?

My point exactly. Besides this insignificant fact, nobody can offer concrete evidence of why the place is bad. People say that the prices are high, but honestly they arent if you think about it. You can buy Otangs there for like 65$ I think. On the Otang website they are 51, without shipping. Shipping would probably bump it up to 60. You also pay a little bit for convenience when you buy locally, because you get the item right away rather than waiting. I guess you could save 5 dollars and wait a week for your wheels, or just suck it up and pay the 5 dollars and go skate now.

There are plenty of awesome things about the place, too, which make putting up with our dead-end local economy worthwhile.

Yeah every time I've been there the employees are chill and helpful. They generally have a wide variety of items in stock, and every time I go there, they have even more variety. I never saw zigzags there before I bought mine a couple weeks ago. They always answer my questions adequately and they even show me some tips to make my setup better. Yeah, Jade does hover a bit over the employee's shoulders, but it's really not that big of a deal to me as a customer. Their numerous positives outweigh the one small negative.

[thokk2]

As far as their pricing goes, Hawk is dead on.
But the main reason I like them is that they are doing things for the scene here. No other skate shop does anything. I don't but much from them, but I'm there almost every week just to see what's going on. They work with TSR a lot and are now putting together a skate school. If you don't like them, so what, I like the people, and I like to not have to wait for things to ship. And I'd rather give money to a local business than to some big company somewhere I've never been.

[BottomShark]

[QUOTE=thokk2;1297364474]As far as their pricing goes, Hawk is dead on.
But the main reason I like them is that they are doing things for the scene here. No other skate shop does anything.

so you've never seen the guys from Beach Zone in any Ditch Slap Videos or the end of their commercial? its not that people aren't doing things for the scene, its that some people aren't trying to profit off of it.
although I totally agree about the pricing....its just that I know and have skated with a lot of Koa Nalu's former employees....even had a college class with one. they sell boards to sell clothes...which are overpriced. like a 4% profit margin on the boards and like a 50% profit margin on the other stuff. I can't leave the place without my woman wanting something from there too...maybe its cause I'm older and have lots of money to blow....believe me! I've blown alot of cash at Kao Nalu..

[Hawk]

its not that people aren't doing things for the scene, its that some people aren't trying to profit off of it.

Every skate shop profits from the boost in the scene. That means more people are coming in and buying parts and boards, which generates more profit... I suppose the individual skaters are doing it because they truly enjoy skating, but the result of that is going to be a boost in profit for everyone as the scene grows.

As for the clothes thing, I only ever wanted to buy a pair of flip flops from there, but I always just end up buying my parts and then heading out.

[nyuklhed]

Every skate shop profits from the boost in the scene. That means more people are coming in and buying parts and boards, which generates more profit... I suppose the individual skaters are doing it because they truly enjoy skating, but the result of that is going to be a boost in profit for everyone as the scene grows.

As for the clothes thing, I only ever wanted to buy a pair of flip flops from there, but I always just end up buying my parts and then heading out.

Its really the location for me, i have no car, so wyoming and Menaul is kinda outta my way, but Mob Shop(shameless plug) is right next to campus, is cheaper and will custom order anything for the price or less of internet shops w/o shipping.

But I am glad that Kola Nalu is working with TSR and doing the clinics, we are just working on surviving and growing our inventory. Albuquerque is gonna be sick by the end of the summer for sure.

[BottomShark]

I mean..if you really talk to her....she only got into skating to sell the scene...other shops around town are ran and owned by ppl who where into the scene 1st... but it is a really great location!
and they are super nice.

[Severian_Sidewalk_Surfer]

All that "skater wear" stuff is wildly-overpriced junk, no matter where you buy it.

This is how the whole country went broke, o my brothers: buying junk no one needs, in order to impress jerks no one likes.

But that's the secret of marketing to Yuppies: they're so desperate to impress strangers with how rich they think they are, that all one has to do is jack one's prices up 500%, and the suckers will line up like lambs to the slaughter.

Their kids are just as badly brainwashed, what from years of watching old Dad throw the pretty polly away on status symbols designed to impress people old Dad doesn't even like. That's why their kids think it makes sense to pay $25 for a flimsy, ugly, badly silkscreened t-shirt.

Besides, most of the clothes for sale in a skate shop make you look like you beat up a dirty old drunk and made off with his, like, worldly goods and all.

Keep up with the Joneses? Hell, I don't even like the Joneses.

[Severian_Sidewalk_Surfer]

I mean..if you really talk to her....she only got into skating to sell the scene...other shops around town are ran and owned by ppl who where into the scene 1st...

Not so, brother. The gentleman who owns Skate City doesn't skate and never did, though his daughter is not only a terrific skater, but totally cool. Skate City rocks, btw. Jade's husband (who has a day job, apart from the Koa Nalu shop, that's why he's not there often) is a surfer/skater from way back, very cool guy...and Jade's kid, Kahalani, grew up surfing on Hawai'i. I've had nothing but first-rate service and good advice from the folks at Koa Nalu. So as far as that goes, they've got way more "beach cred" than any of us. Surfing came first, remember?

As a guy who grew up on the beach myself, and at the risk of sounding like an uptight Yankee water rat, I gotta ask: why does it sometimes seem like everybody who grew up here in ABQ automatically assumes that people who do things well and succeed in their chosen field are automatically "bad"?

Somebody needs to quit smoking that sh*t, that's what I think.

[bear]

koa nalu is a great shop, with good service, and good gear, hating on it won't help you advertise another store. can't we all just get along?