Skate And Style: Wampum Is Ready To Open Its Doors

With a skateboard in his hand at age eleven, and sponsorship at fifteen, it makes sense why Montauk local Lennon Ficalora is opening a skate shop. Along with his brother, Marley, Lennon will be opening Wampum, in Bridgehampton, on Tuesday. But the hope is that the shop will bring more than just skateboards to the community. Check out what the guys from Wampum had to say...Lennon explains,

"We saw that there was a need for a real skate shop, and we wanted to do something that would tie in the local art scene and skate scene that is out here and support that."

"It is really the lifestyle, its not just about the skateboards."

Wampum will carry everything you could need for skateboards, along with shoes, clothing, sunglasses and watches. Merchandise will be sold at the middle to high end ranges, but there really is something for everybody.

"Tee shirts range from $20 to $50, and then everything in between. We are going to do full clothing, shoes... everything. Skate shoes are not super expensive, but I am trying to mix some higher end skate boarding with the higher end fashion that comes out of skateboarding...We want everybody to come in. We want little kids to grandpas to come shop!"

The idea for the store came about when the spot behind jewelry store, Helen Ficalora, opened up about a year ago (yes, Helen Ficalora is the boys' mom's shop). But merging his love of skating, with his passion for art, is something that Lennon has been doing for years. A graduate from NYU film school, Lennon started Fresh Productions Inc. when he was twenty. It is through this company that Lennon designs his clothing/skating line and shoots music videos.

[Lennon demonstrating a before and after with one of the boards he designed photo via]

"It has been hard for me to balance my career and the skate shop, but we are really looking to mold the two together. We are going to have a lot of video content, and do video premieres"

The content of those video's will not only be of Lennon and his friends, but local young skaters. In addition, the boys are going to hold art shows as a way to support/educate consumers of the strong community that is out here.

"We want to promote the local roots of Long Island. That was how we came up with the name, because it has to do with local area. Wampum was used to tell stories, as peace treaties, and as money. I think that relates to our store because we are trying to tell stories with the movies and our media and stuff, we are selling things, and we are really trying to keep that local vibe going."

The opening is Tuesday, June 21st, from 4-8 pm. Check out the details on our calendar! With these guys it is sure to be a good time.

Jumping right into his art incorporation, Lennon gave out a bunch of blank decks to for local artists to hand paint that will be shown at the event. But don't worry if you can't make opening night, I have a funny feeling these guys are going to be around for a while.

[Check out the commercial Lennon shot for Wampum]

[Two Hawks Young and Lennon Ficalora take a break from to do what they love most...skate]

[photos via]