Welcome to Beer & Gear, a series where we get to know individuals making big moves in Portland’s Athletic and Outdoor industries. In this edition, author Ellee Thalheimer talks with Colin Sharp of Commonwealth Skateboarding at the Deep End, the micro bar tucked in a corner of the indoor skate park.
“Portland is where old skaters go to die,” laughs Colin Sharp, 52, owner of Commonwealth Skateboarding, a skate shop and Portland’s only indoor concrete skatepark, located just off of SE Hawthorne Boulevard. “That’s the reason why I moved here 20 years ago. There were so many cool skate parks and people my age that skated.”
I huddled with Sharp at the Deep End, a micro bar in the corner of Commonwealth’s skate shop, which has a viewing window into the 4,500 square-foot skate park. Skateboarding posters paper the curved wall sectioning off the bar and random helmets are scattered about. Sharp grew up in Japan and still spends two months a year in Tokyo, so the Deep End is stocked with Japanese snacks like Pocky (matcha cream covered biscuit sticks), sake, and Sapporo. They also sell favorites like Pabst and Rainier.
In 2005, Colin and his wife Kristen moved to Portland from San Francisco, wanting a better place to start a family. At the time, Sharp owned and ran a software company with his twin brother Jason. On the side, he started a skateboard brand, Bacon Skateboards – which is still around today, in addition to Portland Wheel Company, Sharp’s brand of skateboard wheels. Sharp has always been an avid skateboarder, which means more to him than the joy of the ride.
“Skateboarding is the easiest way to find friends. You can be a geek. Skateboarding doesn’t discriminate like sports tend to do, excluding due to height, athleticism, social cliques. In skateboarding you progress at your own pace, and that’s cool.”
— Colin Sharp, Commonwealth Skateboarding
In 2011, when Commonwealth Skateboarding opened in the Sharp’s neighborhood, Colin was an instant regular, bringing his son to skate and even emceeing various events. It was also the perfect place to skateboard during Portland’s rainy winters. “People said that I would run Commonwealth one day,” said Sharp, “I told them no way am I ever buying a skate shop. That would be the dumbest thing.”
And yet, in 2023, Sharp coincidentally sold his software business just as Commonwealth’s owner put the property on the market. “After I sold the business, my wife asked me what I was going to do,” Sharp said, laughing. “She insisted that I wasn’t going to just sit around.”
So Sharp and his brother, who still lives in San Francisco, bought Commonwealth. They power-washed the skatepark, whitewashed the walls, commissioned spray artists, remodeled the interior of the shop, and added the Japanese-themed micro bar. In less than two years, they doubled the business profits and landed brand accounts like New Balance and IPATH to sell at the shop.
Though the Deep End bar has increased the average age of Commonwealth visitors, the skate park is still a favorite for younger customers who regularly session the street and transition skating features in the park. Additionally, Commonwealth offers lessons, party and event rentals, and transports kids to skateboarding camps at skate parks over Portland.
“Commonwealth is an iconic skateboarding location in Portland and my mission is to make it into an institution. And it’s all built on that euphoric feeling of landing a trick,” said Sharp. “There’s nothing like it. It’s addicting.”
Head over to the shop (1425 SE 20th Ave, with parking 1939 SE Hawthorne at 19th Ave), sign up for their newsletter, or follow Commonwealth Skateboarding on Instagram to stay up to date on the shop’s latest and greatest.
Ellee Thalheimer is a Portland-based freelance writer and guidebook author. When she can’t get to the trails, she’s writing fiction, relishing local IPAs, falling off bouldering walls, and obsessively scheming the next adventure. Find her on Instagram: @pnw_hedonism.
