The skate shop and tattoo parlor opened in 2009

Yauncy White moved back to Baker City from St. Louis and opened

Shifty Skateboards and Tattoos and the business has been growing and

expanding ever since.

Within six months after opening in a small shop off Resort Street,

White jumped at the opportunity in December 2009 to expand into a

full-line skateboard and skating shoes and apparel shop at 1790 Main

St., formerly occupied by the Boots Leonard Gallery.

Then last September, White expanded again with the opening of a La Grande branch of Shifty Skateboards and Tattoos.

White, 35, said about 90 percent of the income at his Baker City

store comes from sales of skateboards and skating shoes and apparel,

while about 10 percent of the stores income is derived from tattoos.

His son Yauncy Jr., 15, and friends Chris Layman and Ben Knops work

at the shop and run it when he’s at the La Grande store, White said.

Since La Grande has a big new skateboard park, White said he thought sales of skateboards and skating shoes and apparel at the new La Grande store would be even higher there, but to his surprise tattoos are a bigger part of the income at the La Grande shop.

“In La Grande, I’d say 70 percent of our income comes from tattoos, and 30 percent from skateboard sales,” White said.

He speculated that the higher demand for tattoos in La Grande might be related to the fact that Eastern Oregon University’s main campus is in La Grande.

However, he said parents in Baker City seem to be much more supportive of their kids who are into skateboarding.

“La Grande is a nice place, but La Grande parents don’t support the (skateboarding) industry like they do in Baker,” White said.

White said his world class tattoo artist, Jesse McFerran is another reason tattoos account for a much larger percentage of sales at the La Grande store.

“Jesse is the best tattoo artist around. He does portraits and just about anything you can think of,” White said. “He blows me away.”

To promote the skateboarding industry in Baker City, White sponsors an eight-member youth skateboarding team that travels around and competes in events. He also hosted a skateboarding competition and dance March 6.

Now that White has completed his latest expansion with the grand opening of the indoor skateboarding park in the basement, he’s looking into future expansion ideas, including the possibility of adding a line of BMX bikes and apparel.

As for the secret to his success, White credited his philosophy of stocking the brands and types of products skateboarders want, and keeping the prices as low as possible so he can compete with shops in Boise, as well as companies selling products over the Internet.

“We want to keep prices low so everyone can afford to skate,” White said, adding that parents appreciate the low prices, too.

White grew up and went to school through the fifth grade in Baker City when his parents, Gary and Carol White owned the Inland Cafe on Main Street.

He moved around for several years with his parents after leaving Baker City, but eventually wound up in St. Louis, Mo., where he worked for Toyota and was a part owner in a skateboard and tattoo shop.

He said on a trip back to Baker City to visit a sister and brother-in-law, he was checking out the skateboarding scene and noticed there weren’t many places to buy boards, shoes and apparel.

“I always liked Baker City, and I considered it my hometown,” White said. “When I saw they didn’t have a true skateboard shop, I decide to move back” and open Shifty Skateboards and Tattoos.