When Dan Pankratz and his brother, Dave, started One Way Board Shop more than 15 years ago, all they had was less than $500 in cash. Now the brothers have a one-stop shop for all things skateboarding as well as an indoor skate park for area youth to learn the tricks of the sport.
What if you wanted to buy something from their store and it wasn’t in stock? You can now get it online, not through Amazon, but through an app they created called Exchange Collective.
The way it works is that customers who come into the store can order a product from a tablet computer converted into point-of-sale.
The app essentially puts all of the store’s vendors and their inventories into one location for the customer who—with a few swipes of the finger—can have the product shipped directly to their house.
The store gets a small commission on the sale and a happy customer. Granted, the margin on the commission is not as much as they’d get from actually having the product in-store, but with this app the brothers hope to never miss a sale.
“We’re not Amazon Prime,” Dave said, “so you’re not going to get it the next day, but the plus is that you’re buying from a local business.”
Dan said the idea for the app came a few years after opening the business. As their business grew and so did the popularity of buying things from the internet, Dan knew it was time to make the leap.
In 2010, they set up a website and got a huge touch-screen television. The first product a customer ordered was a pair of sunglasses.
Things accelerated when a customer who happened to be the son of a software developer was taking lessons at One Way’s indoor skate park. The developer caught wind of the app concept and thought it was a good idea. One thing led to another, and the Pankratz brothers started pulling in investors for the app’s development.
Developing an app is not a simple endeavor, and it’s expensive. It can take months, perhaps years, and anywhere from tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars to do it right.
The app launched nearly a year ago, but now the brothers are trying to take it national and are in the second round of seeking investors. So far the app has been successful and more retailers are catching on, Dan said, adding that it comes at a time when supporting local has become the mantra for small businesses competing with national retailers.
The point of supporting local businesses, Dan said, is to keep money flowing in the local economy instead of sending it off to a larger company not connected to the area.
“This is combining brick-and-mortar with click-and-order,” Dan told the Sun. “The mission is to support local businesses and small retailers. If this can help keep them in business, we add another tool to their tool belt.”
The Exchange Collective app is available for download in Apple’s iTunes store. For more information, visit exchangecollective.com. One Way Board Shop is located at 4854 S. Bradley Road, suite 107, in Orcutt. For more information, visit onewayboardshop.com or call 347-3323.
Highlights
• Want to learn how to enhance your business using the Yelp app? The Solvang Conference and Visitor’s Bureau is holding a Yelp Help and More Tech Tips workshop on June 22 from 3 to 6 p.m. at 436 Alisal Road in Solvang.
At the workshop, you can learn how to use various apps to promote your business, such as Yelp, Trip Advisor, and the new Experience Solvang app. At the workshop, you’ll have the opportunity to sign up for a free 20-minute, one-on-one appointment with a specialist. To sign up for the workshop, email brenda-ball@solvangusa.com or call 686-8516, Ext. 102.
Staff Writer David Minsky wrote this week’s Biz Spotlight. Information should be sent to the Sun via fax, email, or mail.
This article appears in Jun 9-16, 2016.