Blades

Good selection, but very corporate vibe. Staff is helpful, but you don’t get the feeling this is a local skate shop. They have a big business look and feel. Not much more to say. It’s a big brand now, but better sales staff than most. Blades is basically a smaller version of Zumiez.

Very rude staff. Went in to buy some $ 300+ skates and the guy there talked down to me the whole time and relentlessly kept making skeptical comments about my intention to try on a pair. He questioned if I had ever skated before and why I didn’t currently own a pair. The other guys working there kept giving me icy glares until I left. Such a weird atmosphere.
Advice to this skate shop: when people want to spend hundreds of dollars at your store, take it, you are a business and that is the point. You are not the «skate police» who decide who should own them or not. Just bought mine for $ 350 on Amazon. And the customer service (a robotic automated message) was better than all of you combined.

no acknowledgement. no customer service. no nothing. well, except for the sneeks.
go to Zumiez, where the people are much doper and down-​to-​earth.

Just purchased a board for my 10 year old son with the spectacular assistance of Henry our advisor. He took the time to answer all of my questions and was particularly interested in my son’s opinion. He was articulate, polite and genuinely involved in the transaction. Best customer experience I’ve had in a long time.
Thanks, Henry!

I don’t often go out of my way to write a review but the experience I had today warrants one! Both fellas who were working today were attentive and friendly. I left with a hot new pair of inlines && felt good about the purchase. The skates came with a one year warranty but I also got a service card for life– so they’ll take care of my skates as long as I have them. Little pricey, but definitely worth it
I’ll be back! Definitely recommend this location, thanks guys you two are awesome!

Great place to get rollerblades and really close to the park! The renting fee includes helmet, knee pads, and elbow pads — pretty good deal! Everything was very good quality!
Service great as well — nice people!

Went and wrote another review about another blades I went to yest also 1 star thought it couldent get any worse I called b4 hand just to see if they carry what I’m looking for witch they did so I took the mission out to the store
EVEN WORSE THEN THE BROADWAY BLADES i was met wit a ton of attitude and asked If I’m from New York ??? Cuz I asked if they could order my size… oh how dare I ask only footlocker, champs, dicks, couch, lv, prada order for there customers I’ve never had a worse customer experience ever the manager is complete trash witch is probly y the store was empty he then told me when I mentioned the other stores that he dosent own it so it dosent concern him ?? Customer service an experience dosent matter to u? Ur in the wrong bizz my dude… he also started to tell me how my sport is unpopular so they can’t help me… I had 500 in my pocket for what I needed plus extra parts they got ZERO the girl at the desk was probly the only helpful person there thank u to her Mabee might b time to get a manager who cared as much as she did… this is the last time ill ever try a blades thanks a lot for TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE AN A TON OF ATTITUDE if I could could give zero stars or negative stars I would go to a real skate shop these blades shops r TRASH

I used to come to this skate shop 9 years ago when I was in highschool. It was where I learned about bearings, the importance of proper wheel diameter, and upcoming longboard races. I remember when the store started shifting more towards apparel, away from board sport equipment. I figured it would become just another Quicksilver. Today, on my way to Brooklyn on my bike, I had some brake trouble and decided to drop into the shop to ask if I could borrow an Allen wrench. A guy named Jeremy brought my bike over to the board section and fixed my breaks for me, free of charge. It was an incredibly kind thing to do, and my faith in both the culture and technical know how of the Blades brand has been restored.

I had a good experience. I wanted a pair of performance rollerblades that they didn’t have at the UWS store. They put in a call to the village store and had the blades shipped up within two days. Folks in the store are knowledgeable and fun.

Great store. I bought several things from here in the past and had great experiences. The other day I visited the store I just wasn’t met with the same vibe of the previous encounters. Staff seemed a little pretentious and didn’t seem interested at all in answering any of my questions. In my opinion, staff is everything, and I just don’t want to shop somewhere that I don’t feel welcome.

Rude staff.

Blades is the best service for ski trips to upstate NY and VT. Bagels, movies, and beer. What more can you want?
And reasonable rates on your lift tickets and being able to sleep to/​from the mountain, yes please!

The staff was super helpful, patient & knowlegeable about their products. It’s great to buy products from salespeople who obviously use the merchandise. I bought a new pair of rollerblades, pads/​helmet, & that $ 30 lifetime help/​10% off protective gear/​thingie. Their expertise helped me pick out the skates that wd best suit my ability/​goals. Thank you, Blades!

Have taken the bus up to Hunter, Stratton and Mt. Snow. Always on time departures and quick driving time. The boarding process can be annoying when there are a lot of people (they need to check you in). They serve a light breakfast on the way up and make some pit stops on the way down. Great way to squeeze in a day of riding.

I’ve never inline skated before, and I wanted to rent inline skates to go rollerblading in Central Park. I walked into the store and was able to rent skates and protective gear within 15 minutes. The rental is for 24 hours. Central Park is only a few blocks away, so it is very convenient to rent skates at Blades. The staff was courteous, efficient, and pleasant. I don’t know anything about inline skate equipment, but the gear I rented seemed decent.

This is a review for the Blades Ski trips — not the store.
I took a day ski trip with Blades to Hunter Mountain. It was fantastically run. The bus left promptly at 7am. They passed out hot bagels, cream cheese and water. We went straight to the mountain and they passed out our lift tickets. Had a great day on the mountain.
The ride back was easy. They passed out beer — had tons — and we were back in the city by 715pm. I will definitely do another trip. It’s easier than driving and the bagels and beer are a nice touch.
Great mix of people. Great staff. Oh, and showing The Goonies on the ride up was a nice touch.

I took one of their ski/​snowboard trips recently. It was a snowy day and our bus got stuck on the icy road for 4 hours. By the time we got to the mountain, we had just 3 hours on the hill. While the Blades staff on the bus was great about making lemons out of lemonade, the bottom line is someone, likely the bus company, was unprepared for the weather and so we didn’t get our money’s worth. I wrote into the store to see if they’d be issuing a partial refund but they never responded. No apologies,…nothing.

First of all, let me preface this by saying that I did not go to Blades for rollerblading purposes. I was there for my skateboard, so I do not know how their services regarding rollerblades are.
That said, I have to say that Blades is one of those stores teetering between «urban-​New-​York-​bohemian-​street-​credibility» and «corporate-business-that-I-don’t-feel-awkward-going-to-even-though-I-fight-the-man legitimacy.» Maybe it’s because it’s on 72^nd and Broadway on the UWS, but on the street, not the avenue, so it’s cool.
Either way, the staff is friendly enough; they were able to help me tune-​up my skateboard relatively quickly. At any given time, there are more employees than customers at the store. They are very knowledgeable, however, and you shouldn’t hesitate to ask any questions you might have.
A few minuses: for a skateboarding shop, there’s definitely a lot more apparel (shoes, shirts, hats) than decks, trucks, or skateboards. Also, the store can be a bit pricey. I would recommend searching online for better deals. That said, the quality at Blades is guaranteed, and you don’t have to pay S/​H.

Un magasin de location de roller et de skate à Manhattan. Le personnel est très sympa et encourage les moins téméraires à se lancer !
Ils ont toujours ce qu’il vous faut sans oublier les protections bien entendu! Il existe trois magasins dans la ville un autre downtown et un autre midtown, celui-​ci est celui que je préfère car c’est celui le plus près de central park, en effet il existe une entrée à la 72eme street. Endroit du parc où il y a moins de monde et où bien entendu il est plus facile de débuter :) !! Prix de location à la journée: entre 15 et 30 $ et le petit plus: vous pouvez rendre vos rollers le lendemain !

They are definitely the best and most reliable place to buy skates in NYC. You can rent skates and protective gear for $ 20 for 24 hours. This $ 20 fee goes towards the cost of any skates that you might wish to purchase. When you buy your skates, if you sign up for their lifetime service package, a mere $ 30, you get a 10% discount on all other future purchases. The service package basically covers the labor costs of anything related to your skates, for instance, if you need a new brake or wheels, you just take the new wheels and brake and give it to them, they’ll replace them for you for no additional charge. The staff are very knowledgeable about skates, skateboards and other adventure sports gear they have. Many of the staff even offer personal skating and skateboarding lessons. I am so happy with my pair of blades, I would definitely trust their suggestions in the future.

hooray a place that rents rollerblades!
the staff is super nice and funny and helpful.
skates cost $ 20 for 24 hours and if you are anything like me you can get knee pads, helmets and wrist guards in the package.
yay summer!