Chris Nieratko has written an article titled ‘Skate of the Union’ for ESPN that covers the economic position of the skate industry during 2009 … As a start, he says, “I own three NJ Skateshop stores in New Jersey and this past Holiday season was our worst in seven years. I have friends across the country that have owned skate shops three times as long and they’re saying the same thing.” That’s a pretty dire situation for a retailer but it’s being felt all the way up the chain. Nieratko spoke with Jamie Thomas about Black Box as well as a few other distributors about how they handled the last 12 months and their outlook for 2010. Worth a read, check it out here.