Granddad's skates grab worldwide attention
A New Zealand invention - skates with a modern twist - has rolled out to become a multi million dollar company.
At age 69, Waikato farmer Reg Reid came up with a unique idea: quad skates that could be used on almost any kind of terrain.
Reg spotted the opportunity while on a family holiday in 2001. His grandchildren were given inline skates for Christmas but struggled to find flat ground to use them.
As a result, he began tinkering in his garage. He took a metal plate, strapped on four lawnmower wheels and bolted a shoe to the top. From here, the idea for ‘Skorpion Multi Terrain skates’ began to take shape.
It took three years to design and test the skates, which have a similar structure to the old-style strap-on roller skates but have sturdy wheels. The skates can be worn on most types of terrain including grass, BMX tracks, cobblestones and sand.
The skates hit store shelves in late 2005 in New Zealand, and are now sold in 28 countries, including in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Australia and the United States.
The fashion world has also taken notice of the invention. While at a sports expo in Germany, Armani approached Skorpion Sports. A deal was struck and the skates were jointly branded. The new EA7 by Emporio Armani skates were strutted down the catwalk at a Milan fashion show in June 2007.
Skorpion Sports is now run by Reg’s son, Gary. Reg passed away in January 2007 but Gary is confident his dad would have been thrilled at his invention's growing success.
''It was his baby. He always said, 'I wished it happened to me when I was 30'. I guess it's my job now to make sure it happens for him.''
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