Skaters of all ages joined in a free demonstration of a brand-new kind of roller-skating experience called Cardiff Skates at the basketball court at the corner of Cushing and Farragut streets in Liberty Station on Dec. 7 at 10 a.m. “You may have seen people cruising around on Cardiff Skates at Mission Beach or Liberty Station. Here is your chance to try out for free a new way to skate that is fast to learn and fun,” said inventor Brian Green, who lives in Point Loma with his wife, Shanen, and dogs Ari and Charlie.
Green’s skates are a convenient cross between in-line skates and the classic strap-on roller skates. “Cardiff Skates strap onto your favorite shoes,” he said. “They automatically size adjust and feature a stable wheel configuration and braking system, which makes them perfect for all ability levels.”
This is an exciting time for Green, who saie he grew up pond skating in Connecticut and skiing in Vermont. “When rollerblades first came to market in the mid-’80s, I skated a lot, but I wanted a more comfortable and convenient skate. My hobby was inventing products. I have several other patents on pet products, a gardening product and suspension skates.”
Green, 52, said he has been at work on one invention or another since he was 24. “I was on HSN (Home Shopping Network) with one of my products, and one of my products went to TV through an infomercial. The skate project has been my life’s work and I am so psyched to see it come to market.”
Green said his goal eight years ago was to create a more comfortable, stable and convenient skating experience for people of all ability levels to enjoy. With the investment of friends and family, he prototyped and tested many different wheel configurations to come up with the most stable wheel configuration.
He took his patented tri-skate wheel configuration to a group of experienced skate engineers in Munich, Germany, who helped him fine-tune the function of the automatic size adjustment, wheel configuration and braking system to be stable enough for all ability levels.
He then hired a local Oceanside design firm, C4 Design Group, to help create a binding system and restyle the functional German design into a more stylish working prototype. Green partnered with an experienced skate and rollerblade manufacturer in Asia (which once made over 9 million pairs of rollerblades a year.) Green and others then field-tested the production prototypes for several years.
A lifelong friend of Green introduced him to San Diego resident and fellow entrepreneur Bob Pollack, who had over 30 years of executive retail experience with Target and other stores. Pollack saw the potential in Green’s new skate evolution and invested in the technology. This year,Green and Pollack formed the Cardiff Skate Co, located in Cardiff by the Sea, with Pollack as CEO and Green as VP of products. They hired a team of experienced professionals to refine the design and branding into a market-ready product. Inline skating, once the fastest-growing sport in the world, hit its peak in the 1990s with over 30 million participants. The skate industry hasn’t seen a revolution like Cardiff Skates since.
“Bob and I believe these skates will reinvigorate the industry by offering a new way for everyone to skate, making them perfect for transportation, recreation or just to cruise around,” Green said.
Cardiff Skates are available online at cardiffskate.com or in select Brookstone stores in California, including Fashion Valley Mall and in all 53 Sports Chalet Stores, as well as in the Sharper Image fall catalogue and at the UCSD bookstore.
“Cardiff Skates are so convenient to use that our company’s tagline is: ‘Step on, strap in, skate away,” said Green.
The Greens met the public at the free skating event in Liberty Station on Dec. 7.
For more information, visit www.cardiffskate.com.