Demand for skates, sharpening services booming amid Riverside Park skating loop popularity

Staff at sporting goods stores in Kamloops that sell and sharpen skates can attest to the early success of the Riverside Park skating loop, the $7-million City of Kamloops facility that was funded through a provincial government grant.

“I would say it’s overwhelming,” said Ian Pillar, a store manager at Consignor Sports. “The response has been extremely positive to the downtown skating loop, so yeah, we’ve been selling out of all our adult skates. We’ve sold more than 700 pairs of skates in the last week alone. It’s been crazy.”

Expect longer-than-usual waits for skate sharpening services.

“Crazy. Typically, on a busy day, we’re like an hour or two hours,” Pillar said. “Right now, it’s getting to be three, four or five hours. We don’t have enough hours in the day to sharpen what’s coming in. Give us a day, at least.”

Lily’s father, Josh, said the new loop – which opened to the public on Jan. 7 – spurred the trip to Consignor.

“I haven’t been skating in a few years,” Josh said. “It looks really cool. We’re very excited to try it out. We’re here getting skates for ourselves. I thought they would all be gone by now. It seems pretty busy down there and a lot of people are getting skates.”

Pillar said the supply of children’s skates is strong while the number of adult skates is dwindling.

“I don’t think anybody really knew how wild it was going to be,” Pillar said. “We were preparing for a bit of an influx, but nowhere near the response. Free is always popular and everyone who’s gone down there has said it’s an extremely enjoyable experience, a great community-building thing.”

The city has no way of tracking exact usage numbers, but Parks and Streets Manager Jeff Putnam said thousands have taken advantage of the new facility.

“This has been beyond our wildest dreams,” Putnam said. “How the community has embraced this facility has just blown us all away.”

Putnam said the city is listening to feedback.

“They’re asking for skate rentals,” he said. “They would love to have hot chocolate vendors. We’re all working trying to catch up and get organized with that. And I know in the future, there are going to be more ancillary services because businesses are going to see this opportunity and want to take advantage of it.”

Hours of operation are 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. from Sunday to Thursday, and 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Putnam said three fire pits will be operational from 1:00 p.m. onward Wednesday through Sunday.

The facility was buzzing on Friday morning, with Blake Horne, a youth hockey player from Port Coquitlam, noting the loop is a bonus addition to her family’s trip to Kamloops for a tournament.

“We have a hotel and we just heard all the fun, so we just wanted to come for a little skate,” Horne said. “It’s amazing.”

by Marty Hastings

Demand for skates, sharpening services booming amid Riverside Park skating loop popularity

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