Covert Skate

Honestly, I didn’t get a lot of time in the shop, because I was helping out at the event they were having behind the place. But from what I saw, they had some great product — I could definitely go on a shopping spree in there!
They didn’t appear expensive for a skate shop, but just the norm, which is expensive for me. The style of the place was pretty wicked, and I’m grateful for them to host the event, it was a good time.
Parking was a real bitch — not knowing what was legal and if I’d be towed, but I believe we were partying in the normal parking lot, so that shouldn’t have been a concern if I was just coming in as a customer. Will definitely stop back in and hopefully find something to buy!

Not much, if anything, I can add to Mike W.‘s excellent and glowing review. (Or, for that matter, Mike A.‘s review.) Be sure to check this place out if you skate! Along with Galactic G. (another great shop on Orange Ave.), Covert is representing the Orlando skate scene perfectly. Great selection. Also, it’s in a cool area and neighbors several other cool businesses. Glad to see shops like this are breathing some inspired, fresh life into this part of town.

I was just at Covert yesterday (19 June 2010) and it’s still an awesome, if small, shop. Covert is a skate shop, yes, and very dedicated to skateboarding but they also have attracted a good client base outside of the sport due to their inventory of trendy sneakers (NIke SB, adidas skateboarding, and others) and streetwear brands like The Hundreds. The staff and owner are very friendly people and aware that their shop fills a rather unique role in the local community. Streetwear/​sneaker stores are common now in larger cities like NYC, Boston, and San Francisco, but still a developing scene in Florida. Shops like Covert help promote companies like The Hundreds and Huf that are doing some of the most innovative design work in graphic arts and fashion today: I was just at an exhibit at the Orlando Museum of Art before I came down to Covert and I felt like I was still in a gallery while looking at some of the boards and tees they have as these are really works of art, too. In a time where mall retailers and mass-​market goods are more and more omnipresent, it’s comforting and enriching to see shops like Covert out there.
That all said, Covert is about skateboarding first and foremost. I’ve been a Florida skater since seventh grade and am glad to see shops of this caliber serving Orlando. Covert had a DJ spinning yesterday and a sidewalk sale going on, but the centerpiece of their efforts still was certainly skateboarding. The store sponsors one of the best teams in central Florida, too.

If you’re looking for shop that lives and breaths skateboarding, then you’ve found it. The staff knows the product because they use the product. They represent skateboarding as it is. The beautiful art of self expression that teaches patients, focus, determination and to think for oneself. Not this over the top «extreme sport» that big corporations have tried to sale to the majority of public over the past ten years but the true day in day out lifestyle that skateboarding really is. This shop isn’t aimed at little Timmy looking for that ‘Wet Willy’ board. If thats what you want then go to the mall. If you’re looking for a staff who can asses your needs and steer you towards the products that are best suited for you. Then this is your place. Everyone who works there grew skateboarding. So they understand what makes skateboarding, skateboarding. What’s that beer commercial say? Oh yeah, «It doesn’t get any better than this.» Well, when it comes customer service, quality products and a staff that is passionate about what they do, then it doesn’t.