Long Beach Skate, Long Beach

Helmed by a team of skate enthusiasts, Long Beach Skate is dedicated to preserving its neighborhood's skateboard culture. The warehouse space specializes only in skating gear and apparel. Its walls brim with colorful decks filled with images of geometric owls, vintage pinups, pop-culture figures, and strange monsters. The shelves are filled with DC and Adidas skate shoes, sweatshirts emblazoned with the store's logo, and useful skateboard accessories such as Penny wheels and giant pillows to help you stop. At the full-service, onsite maintenance center, technicians perform services ranging from board setup to repairs.

And yet Long Beach Skate's staff don't spend all their time in the shop—they also promote local skate-park development, and often materialize at skate-park gatherings to hand out gear and food. Their charitable programs have included clothing and shoe drives. In addition, they volunteer time and energy to organizations such as Action Sports Kids Foundation, Autism In Long Beach, and Maloof Money Cup's Skate and Donate program, which benefits people in South Africa.