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They met at the Queanbeyan skate park when they were just teenagers. Today, Irene and Dave Donoghoe are married with a thriving business, Trilogy Skateboards, which opened in a new home last weekend on Lonsdale Street, Braddon, after operating in various other locations in Canberra and Queanbeyan over the last 14 years. The couple says COVID-19 presented them with some unbelievable challenges, including forcing them to retreat initially from bricks-and-mortar to take the business online. But the pandemic, in a way, also helped to lead them to where they always wanted to be, in the heart of a community like Braddon. “We’ve always wanted our own independent store and to have our own freedom. It’s taken us 14 years to get here,” Dave said. Trilogy Skateboards had previously been in the Canberra Centre for eight years before COVID-19 hit and the bottom fell out of a lot of small business as lockdowns were enforced. Dave, 37, said the Canberra Centre wanted to move them to a new location. “They wouldn’t cut as a deal, pretty much. So we had to make the call straight away, whether we were going to close up for good or keep trading,” he said. “So we made an online store within a week, moved all of our stock, everything out of the Canberra Centre and moved it into a mate’s warehouse in Hume. “Then we drove around town and delivered everything ourselves for the last eight months.” Irene said those eight months consolidated their Canberra customer base. “Skateboarding was one of the few sports that could continue during COVID because all the team sports shut down,” she said. “Skateboarding has had a bit of a boom, actually, during COVID. Our main issue, now, has been getting stock in, because there’s been a global increase.” Irene, 32, said the support of the Canberra community had been phenomenal during COVID-19. “Even though we didn’t have a shop, they still knew us and still ordered from us. They just got us through that tough time until we found a new shop,” she said. They had a soft opening of the store in Lonsdale Street last Saturday, only putting up an Instagram post the night before telling people they were back. “It was like one of our busiest days ever,” Irene said. The shop had also been in the Tuggeranong Hyperdome and in Queanbeyan as well as pop-ups before it moved to Braddon, on a five-year lease and much lower rent than the Canberra Centre. “We were worried we wouldn’t be cool enough because it’s such a trendy area,” Irene said, with a laugh. “But to be honest, even in the first few days, we feel more comfortable here than any other shop. All the other shops are independent and everyone is really nice and welcoming.” The couple, who both grew up in Queanbeyan, said skateboarding is their passion. “Skating has gone through highs and lows and was on a low for pretty much the whole time we’ve had the business but, all of a sudden, has just peaked,” Dave said. “We used to have to rely on the clothing and the shoes and all the other knick-knacks. Now, we can support ourselves pretty much by selling the skateboards and hardware.” MORE FROM MEGAN DOHERTY: Irene said she started skateboarding with two female friends. They used to enter competitions and always won a place because no other girls were competing. But now she is seeing more girls get involved. “Boys often go through a skating phase, but it wasn’t something girls did,” she said. “But we’ve probably been selling just as many skateboards to girls as boys these days.” Dave said he had an interesting start to skateboarding. “One of my friends had a skateboard and they’d just built a brand-new skatepark in Queanbeyan. I had a go on his board, and from that moment, I was like ‘This is the most amazing thing ever’,” he said. “I remember I went to the park on my cousin’s old Kmart board. First thing I did, rolling down the hip, I didn’t know how to stop, hit the pyramid and launched over the pyramid, and knocked out my front tooth and broke my wrist. I got back up and I went ‘I still really like doing this, this is amazing’. “So went to Canberra Hospital, got my tooth fixed, my wrist healed, and I’ve never looked back. “I’ve made so many friends. And it really put me on the right direction for life. It keeps you young forever.”
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They met at the Queanbeyan skate park when they were just teenagers.
Today, Irene and Dave Donoghoe are married with a thriving business, Trilogy Skateboards, which opened in a new home last weekend on Lonsdale Street, Braddon, after operating in various other locations in Canberra and Queanbeyan over the last 14 years.
The couple says COVID-19 presented them with some unbelievable challenges, including forcing them to retreat initially from bricks-and-mortar to take the business online. But the pandemic, in a way, also helped to lead them to where they always wanted to be, in the heart of a community like Braddon.
“We’ve always wanted our own independent store and to have our own freedom. It’s taken us 14 years to get here,” Dave said.
Trilogy Skateboards had previously been in the Canberra Centre for eight years before COVID-19 hit and the bottom fell out of a lot of small business as lockdowns were enforced.
Younger customers at last week’s opening. Picture: Facebook
Dave, 37, said the Canberra Centre wanted to move them to a new location.
“They wouldn’t cut as a deal, pretty much. So we had to make the call straight away, whether we were going to close up for good or keep trading,” he said.
“So we made an online store within a week, moved all of our stock, everything out of the Canberra Centre and moved it into a mate’s warehouse in Hume.
“Then we drove around town and delivered everything ourselves for the last eight months.”
Irene said those eight months consolidated their Canberra customer base.
“Skateboarding was one of the few sports that could continue during COVID because all the team sports shut down,” she said.
“Skateboarding has had a bit of a boom, actually, during COVID. Our main issue, now, has been getting stock in, because there’s been a global increase.”
Skateboarding only increased in popularity with this post by viral sensation ‘Doggface’.
Irene, 32, said the support of the Canberra community had been phenomenal during COVID-19.
“Even though we didn’t have a shop, they still knew us and still ordered from us. They just got us through that tough time until we found a new shop,” she said.
They had a soft opening of the store in Lonsdale Street last Saturday, only putting up an Instagram post the night before telling people they were back.
“It was like one of our busiest days ever,” Irene said.
The shop had also been in the Tuggeranong Hyperdome and in Queanbeyan as well as pop-ups before it moved to Braddon, on a five-year lease and much lower rent than the Canberra Centre.
“We were worried we wouldn’t be cool enough because it’s such a trendy area,” Irene said, with a laugh.
“But to be honest, even in the first few days, we feel more comfortable here than any other shop. All the other shops are independent and everyone is really nice and welcoming.”
The couple, who both grew up in Queanbeyan, said skateboarding is their passion.
“Skating has gone through highs and lows and was on a low for pretty much the whole time we’ve had the business but, all of a sudden, has just peaked,” Dave said.
“We used to have to rely on the clothing and the shoes and all the other knick-knacks. Now, we can support ourselves pretty much by selling the skateboards and hardware.”
Irene said she started skateboarding with two female friends. They used to enter competitions and always won a place because no other girls were competing. But now she is seeing more girls get involved.
“Boys often go through a skating phase, but it wasn’t something girls did,” she said.
“But we’ve probably been selling just as many skateboards to girls as boys these days.”
Dave said he had an interesting start to skateboarding.
“One of my friends had a skateboard and they’d just built a brand-new skatepark in Queanbeyan. I had a go on his board, and from that moment, I was like ‘This is the most amazing thing ever’,” he said.
“I remember I went to the park on my cousin’s old Kmart board. First thing I did, rolling down the hip, I didn’t know how to stop, hit the pyramid and launched over the pyramid, and knocked out my front tooth and broke my wrist. I got back up and I went ‘I still really like doing this, this is amazing’.
“So went to Canberra Hospital, got my tooth fixed, my wrist healed, and I’ve never looked back.
“I’ve made so many friends. And it really put me on the right direction for life. It keeps you young forever.”
