Age: 49
Hometown: Greece
Current residence: Rochester
Occupation: Owner of Krudco.
The year is 1994, an era when skateboarding had been firmly cemented as a subculture lynchpin. That year would also see the release of Plan B Skateboards’ “Second Hand Smoke,” a milestone skate video directed by Jason Lee, better known now as Earl from the TV show “My Name is Earl.” A year prior, director Spike Jonze and skaters Rick Howard and Mike Carroll launched Girl Skateboards, one of the most enduring, well-known and influential skateboarding brands. Skateboarding was hitting its stride, and poised to enter the public consciousness.
Enter 20-year-old Aaron Costa. At that time, he was a college student working on a marketing project. He designed a simple logo, the first marker of a venture celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.
“We made (what was) like a Krudco logo, it was horrible,” Costa said. “But either way, it sparked the idea.”
Costa then went to his father, who owned a tire business in a building on North Clinton Avenue. The first iteration of the longest-running skate shop in Rochester area would start in a 12-by-12 space above the tire business; Krudco opened in August of that year.
“I had a whole whopping $600 at the time, and I did business with two companies first,” Costa said. “It just kind of spread out from there.”
Krudco has found multiple homes since its start on North Clinton, including on Howell Street near the Strong National Museum of Play, on Park Avenue, and its newest home on Mt. Hope Avenue, a stone’s throw from the Roc City Skatepark.
Throughout that time, the shop has been more than just a shop. It’s a meeting ground, a clubhouse, a place where skaters from all walks of life can convene and bond. If you even have passing interest in skating, Krudco feels like home.
Alan Presutti is co-owner and special projects manager for Krudco. He credits Costa for making Krudco a place that has endured the test of time. Not easily, either. Money can get tight, the presence of the internet has taken a bite out of skate shop revenue, and skating itself has gone through its ebbs and flows of coolness.
“There’s been a lot of tough times, but he’s always managed to pull it off,” Presutti said.
Costa himself has gone through his own life changes in the past 50 years. On the morning of the interview for this article, Costa is running late, having to pick up one of his three kids from summer camp.
It’s a far cry from the time when he started Krudco, then just a local skater looking to build a place where the different crews around town could comingle.
On the floor space of Krudco, time almost seems to stand still. It may be in different locations, with different brands and different fashion trends lining its walls. But the distinct scent of lubricant still lingers in the air. The same faces, now with careers and families, still popping in the door. And there are still teens, drunk on a youthful passion for skating, milling about. Boxes and rails are set up on the sidewalk outside for impromptu sessions.
Krudco is still exactly what it was meant for, because there’s one thing that’s remained unchanged over the years.
“There’s always one little core group of skaters, the same faces you see over and over,” Costa said. “There’s your little crew keeping it alive, or his little crew keeping it alive.”