Skate legend Steve Rocco, who conquered and souled the World, is back in the skateboarding industry to team up with icons Bill Weiss, Hugh "Bod" Boyle, Steve Douglas, and Louie Barletta under Sidewalk Skateboard Distribution.
Rocco started World Industries with the godfather of skating Rodney Mullen back in 1987. They crushed the market with their humorous graphics using Marc McKee's designs, provocative messaging, and an offensive magazine called Big Brother.
Their aim is about skater-owned business with a do-it-yourself no f*cks given punk attitude, which pissed off parents.
In the late 90s, the company sought explosive growth in sales and popularity among street skaters. By the end of 1998, World Industries and Blind achieved the status of number one and number two brands in skateboard hard goods.
This was largely due to the repositioning of the brands with McKee's hugely popular cartoon characters such as Devil Man, Flame Boy and Wet Willy for World Industries, and the "Blind Reaper" for Blind.
According to Scott Drouillard, the CFO of World Industries in the 90s, the gross sales of World Industries were like $12 million, $18 million, then they hit $25 million, and finally they were approaching $30 million at the time they started to sell majority interest of the company.
Roco's empire was acquired by Kubic Marketing in October 1998, which owned World Industries and Dwindle Distribution.
However, in 2022, Globe International purchased all Kubic companies, including World Industries.
After Rocco sold his company, he decided to leave the industry. He never went on interviews and just vanished completely.
On March 25, 2024, Roco thought he was finished until he learned that skateboarding was still alive but barely, as per the press release.
This year will be gnarly, and we hope that Big Brother comes back and will be stronger than before.