A day after Plan Z’s lease expired at Three Rivers Mall, the locally owned skateboarding shop re-opened Friday next door to its former storefront in downtown Kelso.

“I’m way happier where I am now,” Plan Z owner Jeremy Hooper said Monday.

Last month, mall management told Hooper it wasn’t going to extend Plan Z’s temporary lease because another store in the mall otherwise wouldn’t renew its long-term lease, feeling there was too much competition for the same customers. The other store, Munition, is a Northwest chain that sells action sports clothing.

Hooper, who’d been recruited by mall management to relocate there in February, was irate. So were his customers. On July 22, about 30 skateboarders marched on Allen Street holding signs with slogans bashing the mall and Munition.

Plan Z’s deadline to vacate its mall space was last Thursday. That night, several of Hooper’s young customers helped load his merchandise into a large U-Haul and trucked it to 406 Oak St., which is in the same strip mall Plan Z occupied for three years before moving to the mall. The former tenant of Hooper’s old space, Image Seller sign shop, owned by Rich Robinson, gave up his storefront so Plan Z could move in.

Hooper got the skate shop set up overnight, and his customers were ready the next morning. Friday, Plan Z had its best sales in three weeks, he said.

“I didn’t even have a sign. That was pretty cool,” said Hooper, 38.

He’d been bummed out about having to move out of the mall, but as soon as he returned to his old digs, Hooper remembered why he’d liked being downtown. His rent’s half of what he paid at the mall. He likes the vibe. He can walk around his store in his socks. And having less foot traffic means he has more time to help each customer.

“I’d rather make the connection with each individual customer and not make any money than be the rich guy who nobody knows,” said Hooper, who has a day job at Columbia Fleet Supply.

He’d considered closing down the skateboard shop altogether out of frustration until he saw the outpouring of community support, Hooper said. But he’s happy about how things turned out.

“I think it’s a good thing,” he said.

Plan Z, at 406 Oak St., Kelso, is open Monday through Friday 10 a.m. - 8 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. The phone number is (360) 425-6555.

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Skaters rally to protest shop's exit from Three Rivers Mall  (July 27)