We mentioned back here that Melbourne’s Street Machine had opened their new 302 Chapel Street store… Julius dropped by to grab some shots of the store and the man that runs the show there, Chris McLean, answered a few questions for us. Check below the cut for a tonne of photos and some insight on the store.

Chris, give us a run down on the history of Street Machine. Although the stores are new, the company has a long heritage in skate, huh?
Yeah, Street Machine’s got quite a bit of history. Our first store was our Collingwood Store, which has gone through a few name changes and things over the years but always been a skate store. I took over the shops after Joey (Dodd) left and things went really well. From there we’ve opened up some new stores, and I’m super proud of this store… A lot of love went into it and it clearly shows. Mike (Vati, owner) did an amazing job with this store and has set the bar for future stores. And besides the shops, Mike of course has a super long history in Australian skateboarding with Lush productions, who have supported Australian skateboarding for so long with Zoo York, Ezekiel, Santa Cruz, C1RCA, and now Independent, Creature, and so many other great skate brands.

What about you… How did you come to be the head of all this? What’s your history?
Being a skate rat. [Laughs] I grew up on Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, fell in love with skateboarding at a young age and lurked and became friends with the local skate shop (Yellowbox). And like all good skate rats, just kept skating and being a huge skate nerd. When I moved over to Australia some eight years ago I got a job at Jetty Surf in the city (was the only store with a skate counter that was hiring!) and then just met heaps of Melbourne skaters, made lots of good friends, and kept with it all. Then got the dream job at PSC and from there went in for an interview for the position at Street Machine. Got the job and haven’t looked back since!

What’s the biggest innovations and features in the new store?
There’s so much cool stuff in there. [Laughs] I love everything about the store, when you walk in it just looks sick. It’s clean, like a boutique but not pretentious like say Supreme. [Laughs] The boards in the ground are a really nice touch and I love how the wooden floor draws you into the ramp at the back with the huge plasma on it. Going to be some sick movie nights instore and premieres! Board wall with the side lights look really great, and there is a huge emphasis put on the shoe wall. Also, the lighting in the store is crazy!  From street level with all the elements put together it just looks sick and stands out from a mile away!

I know sometimes design can look good on paper but have issues in real world scenarios. Has the design worked as expected or are you tweaking things now that it’s ‘live’ and you have customers flowing through?
For the most part everything is working really well. Before opening there were a few changes that had to be made but the designers, Moth Designs, did a great job and the best thing is that the shop looks just like the mock ups did! Mike, Moth design, and myself tried to think of everything and the store is up and running smoothly so all systems are go.  We are adding some more glass suspended shelves on the shoe wall so we can display even more footwear and possibly adding another cabinet or two. Just don’t want to have the store too cluttered and disturb the flow and all that good stuff.

Moving onto stock – What’s the best selling hardware you have in store at the moment?
Well we’ve been open for only two weeks but already a couple brands are standing out.  With boards, we have the new Blueprint boards instore and they’re killing it. Good wood, great shapes and great graphics. Also helps that Tom Cuthbertson works instore and rides for them through Goliath! Our shop boards are doing really well, we got some new graphics done up with artwork from our mate Mooney… Super talented artist.

What about shoes… What’s selling well at the moment?
Adidas is killing it. May sound biased as I’m the Aussie TM. [Laughs] But they seriously are killing it instore. The other day Tameeka served Jimmy Barnes who bought a pair of Silas Campus Vulcs from the store… I was stoked. [Laughs] Also Vans is doing amazing and Nike SB doing super well. We’ve only been open for two weeks now, so I know other core brands like Lakai and Emerica will do really well in that area too. It’s great being on Chapel Street but also in the backyard of Prahran Skatepark… We’ll always be able to keep it a core skate shop but branch out a little in some more fashion areas too.

What’s coming up that you’re really excited about? Any new brands or products that have you hyped?
Altamont. Love that brand, and the first big drop has hit the country and been selling so well. Its a great label with amazing quality products that caters to skaters, but with it’s design and influences has a mass appeal.  Also so stoked that we have the only Vans Syndicate account in the country… The quality of that stuff is crazy awesome. Got some more harder to find brands like aNYthing, the Hundreds, and also really looking forward to getting HUF instore. And speaking of hyped, we have the new Hype! Skateboards product coming in, which is a board company that I love and shop rider/employee Kurt Winter rides for as an am. It’s pretty much an extension of where Popwar left off, and the vibe and feel of the company is awesome… Hiskey the man behind it has a great thing going on!

I’ve noticed more and more online shops popping up selling hardware. Do you think this is going to change how a core store like Street Machine will operate in the future?
Well I think everyone has to keep up with the times… The internet is such a huge tool and if you don’t try to do something you’ll get left behind. I think it’s a great thing for stores that have existing shops, and I know we have something planned to go with our key products, such as limited stock (Vans Syndicate), shop clothing and also for a new project we’re launching. We’re displaying skate photography and art in our Prahran store from some of Australia’s biggest or up and coming artists, with all profits going back to them. I think it’s going to be a sick thing and a great way to get a little much deserved cash in some Aussie talent’s pockets.

Who’s on the shop team so far? Have you got your eye on anyone?
Oh man, I’m so happy with our shop team.  We have a real good vibe and everyone gets a long with each other. We have Shane O’Neill, Kurt Winter, Jack Crook, Jack Kirk, Yuta Tanaka, Tom Snape, Shane Matthewson, Yuta Tanaka, Matt Kinsman, Tom Cuthbertson, Steve Mcinnes, Gus Faithful, Adam Davies, Aaron Winsbury, RJ, and Ryan Davis. Phew!  Also Marty Girotto is moving down to Melbourne from Sydney and he’ll be working and riding for the stores too. So stoked. As for anyone else, well we’re always down to support people that are down for us. Also we will be starting our first shop video really soon… That video is going to go off!

Any major plans for the future you can tell us about?
Definitely a few things planned… With this ‘flagship’ store we have a lot of things planned for Melbourne skateboarding, from major skate events to casual BBQs at the store.  And as far as Street Machine goes, no matter how many stores we open up or how big we get we’ll always be doing whatever we can to support skateboarding.  Thanks to POP for this opportunity, and a big thank you to our customers, friends, families, shop riders, and everyone for their support!

Thanks for taking the time to talk Chris! Good luck with the new store!

Street Machine
302 Chapel St,
Prahran, 3181
Victoria
(03) 9510 5517

Opening Hours:
Mon – Thurs: 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Fri: 11:00 am – 8:00 pm
Sat: 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Sun: 11:00 am – 5:00 pm