It’s officially the start of Summer. It is sunny, hot, and humid, but beautiful (with a few exceptions here and there) outside.

What we (at least I) need right now is a nice cold, refreshing, even brain-freezing drink of slushy to cool off. So, I prayed to Slush Heaven… and the Slush God answered me. Unfortunately I did not get a free coupon for a slushy, but I did get something much better: a story about his work. See, the refreshing feeling of a cup of slushy will only last you a short while, but a story of a person’s (in this case, a God) work will last forever. What is interesting about this particular God is that he runs a fingerboard shop; what he and his followers call the ‘Mini Mart’. The Slush God’s human name is Clayton, and we had the opportunity to have a conversation about what @slushcult is all about.

Here is the refreshing story of Clayton (Slush God) behind Slushcult.

Slush God (as Clayton) / Photo by: The Slush God and Matt Ulfelder

(NY) Please introduce yourself and Slushcult to our readers.

(SG) Yoo! My name is Clayton. I am the founder/owner of Slushcult, lots of people call me Slush God haha. I've worked in/near the skateboard industry for most of my life, somehow that led to me running a fingerboard skate shop in Southern California.

(NY) What inspired you to start Slushcult, and why ‘fingerboards’ as the primary focus for the Mini Mart?

(SG) Well, that's a very long story so I'll try to give a short and sweet answer. I started Slushcult because at the time (2013ish) most "streetwear" or skate-adjacent clothing brands were dull, boring and way too serious. The world needed someone who didn't care about being cool, and wasn't afraid to break gender norms with bright fun colors, and graphics that brought back that 90s skate nostalgic feel.

The Mini Mart was opened in late 2019, mostly because I was really bored of the internet/social media being the only way we could connect with our community. For me a store was simply a place where we could hang out with our customers, share memories with events and also sell stuff the "old school" way, in person rather than online. Being able to touch something in person before you buy it makes a big difference. Fingerboards weren't the main focus when we opened, it was a mix of clothing, cameras, skate decks, and random throwback toys from my childhood like yoyos, super soakers, and Techdecks. Naturally, as you get bored being in a new shop with time to kill, we opened a few Techdecks as "Shop Boards" and I started fingerboarding again after years of just having them around to collect. After that the "algorithm" gods stepped in and started feeding me real FB content and I was blown away. I was always "teckdecking" since I was a kid, but I never knew the professional fingerboard scene existed until then.

I went to my first FB event (Sorry for Fingerboarding) and met Nash, with whom I have several random mutual friends. I asked around the event "Yo where do you buy this stuff?" and the answer was always "Oh you gotta go online" and a lightbulb in my head went off. You can't have a skateboard scene without a skate shop, you can't build culture solely online or on social media. Fingerboarding needed a physical skate shop and I already had the foundation built to do it. So, I asked a few brands to test some products and it grew and grew and grew. Over the course of the last few years, we have slowly shifted the entire brand to fingerboarding, it finally felt like I found my purpose in life and I was ready to go full force into it. Now we are one of the premier destinations for fingerboarding in the US and it's insane to see how much our scene has grown. I never claim to have started the scene here, we just gave it a permanent home and do our best to support and grow it as big as possible.

Photo by: The Slush God and Matt Ulfelder

(NY) What were some of the biggest challenges you faced when launching a physical shop, and how did you overcome them?

(SG) There are a ton of hurdles when trying to open a brick-and-mortar skate shop. Piles of paperwork with the city, banks, insurance companies, landlords and of course probably the biggest hurdle, in general, is cost. Our store is only 180sq ft and it was still around 20k to do the full build-out that we currently have, we had to completely gut the space we are in and start over because the previous tenant had been in there for decades, but luckily, we did most of the work ourselves to save costs. The next biggest hurdle is getting people to show up, the old saying "if you build it they will come" is true to a certain degree but it's still never guaranteed. Luckily the brand already had a strong following (or cult haha) so we had a big head start there. The best way in all my years of working for skate shops and brands is to create a shop culture that people want to be a part of you want people to come hang out, shop, share stories etc. That makes people want to come back time and time again.

(NY) Why and how did you choose Santa Ana, California for your shop, and how has the fb community responded to it?

(SG) We moved to Santa Ana CA when we got our first real office/HQ, about 3 years before we opened the store. I chose Santa Ana because of the amazing atmosphere downtown, we had some homies who already had a streetwear/skate shop called Nothing Usual (NOT.US) and every time I went to visit them it just felt electric, it felt like where I wanted to be, it felt like home. So when I saw a sign for an office to rent down the street I jumped on it, also before this, we were working out of my apt and garage so a real HQ felt like it was needed at the time.

Downtown Santa Ana is rad, with neighboring stores like Them Skates, Bait, Rif OC, Not.Us and Stussy it truly feels like a mini subculture surrounded by older shops that have been there for decades. The fingerboard scene has really responded well because of what I said earlier. The fingerboard scene here needed a home base, a permanent place to gather, trade, sell shit and of course fingerboard on parks. It has taken time to grow but now you can find anywhere from 10-30 people each day the shop is open, skating and making new friends.

(NY) What makes Slushcult stand out from others in the local fb community (or the general fb community at large)?

(SG) Beyond the bright colors, funny graphics and high-quality clothing and skate/fingerboard products it's the meaning and ethos we represent. Slushcult is an all-inclusive space where anyone can be themselves. We really try to make the shop feel friendly to anyone who comes in regardless of who they are or how they look. I think my background in skate retail also really sets us apart, running a shop isn't easy and luckily, I had years and years of experience to help us get through it. Fingerboard shops are still a new concept in the scene, so having previous knowledge truly helps guide us through uncharted territory.

(NY) Have you noticed any trends or changes in the fb community and market over the years (before vs after launching a physical store)?

(SG) I think the biggest change I have seen in the past few years is just the sheer volume of new brands and companies popping up. Access to the internet has opened a world where anyone can learn and try to make decks and other items if they want to so there are a lot of new things happening all the time. This also applies to events, now that the scene has grown so much there are so many more events happening which is awesome and good to see.

(NY) The Mini Mart often hosts in-person events (such as the Fingerboard Con) at the shop and/or other locations. How do these contribute to your business and the local fingerboarding community?

(SG) We do a monthly event called the Shop Session that happens the last Saturday of every month, we have 20+ parks out to skate, and different themes or co-hosts with other brands make these really special and fun. We have done this for more than 2 years straight now which can be daunting but is so worth it for the shop and the Southern California scene. We have also been the co-host/venue for our team rider FB.Christopher’s "Shredder Mania" a huge yearly event that happens at the shop that brings out hundreds of people each time (The next one is next month!).

Fingerboard Con is the 3-way partnership with Slushcult, 6Skates (Canada) and Blackriver (Germany). It's a huge convention all dedicated to fingerboarding with 500+ attendees, 20 vendors, and tons of fingerboard parks. It's another way for the scene to meet, trade, buy/sell and make new friends. If you have seen the recap videos on our YouTube please check them out because this event is epic. We have done 2 FB Cons now and I imagine we will keep doing them each year for a long time to come.

(NY) What has been your favourite moment or experience since opening the Mini Mart?

(SG) Opening night was a memory I will never forget; I was so nervous that no one would show up to our grand opening that I ended up showing up late to the time we were supposed to open. I walked around the corner from where I parked and saw a line of 100+ people. Long-time customers, family, friends, and other homie brand owners all showed up just for me and it felt really special. That moment can never be replicated... well until we open Mini Mart #2 haha.

(NY) How do you see the fingerboarding culture evolving, and what role do shops like the Mini Mart play in that evolution?

(SG) I think we are barely seeing the tip of the iceberg, the scene has so much growth to do before we ever hit the ceiling. Fingerboard shops like the Mini Mart, FlatFace, ASI, ThisFB, 6Skates, Yuck, Tiny Skate Shop, Alien Outpost, Abducted, FingerDex, (I'm definitely forgetting some forgive me) push the fingerboard scene significantly. You can't build a skate shop-style culture without a skate shop, fingerboarding needs that culture just as much as skateboarders.

(NY) What are the plans for Slushcult long term? Any upcoming projects or expansions you can share with us?

(SG) Big collabs, tons of new fingerboard products we have never produced yet like ramps and obstacles, more Fingerboard Cons the possibilities are endless! The thing I look forward to most is just continuing to grow and support the California and US scenes!

Slush God (Clayton)
Instagram: @slushcult

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