Ouch! Something of a sensitive subject… Here’s an example of an early New Deal Skate advert from the days when the shop was in the “In Shops” near Harrow and Wealdstone station, before they moved to the skatepark. And, yes: they were doing mail order right from the start, although the “HSC” name came later.
From these beginnings grew the organisation which had such a dominant position in the UK skate industry ten years later and which imploded last year (2005) with much collateral damage — including me!
Ouch. But if that hadn’t happened, this would not be here.
There’s an irony in that New Deal’s beginnings were in retail, but it was the attempt to expand that side of the business (through the purchase of High Jinks and Skate of Mind) which brought about the end of the company.