After moving to Melbourne in the year 2000 we (Neil and Andrea) quickly started to miss the organised group skates we had enjoyed while living in Brisbane. As our passion for skating grew, and we developed an interest in Speed Skating, we became more and more frustrated by the lack of support for the skating community that existed in Melbourne at the time.
There were a number of shops selling a basic range of skates and offering skates for hire, but no one carried much at all in the way of higher end speciality skates, and there was limited knowledge of the speciality/competitive side of skating.
We felt certain we weren’t the only skaters wanting access to premium skates locally, and felt strongly there was the market to support such a shop in Melbourne. Toward the end of 2002 I (Neil) accepted a redundancy package and we were presented with the need to decide what to do next.
Feeling certain there was a need for a different style of skate shop, one that focused more on the needs of the enthusiast, we decided to scrape up all the money we had (and some more) and Bayside Blades opened its doors in May 2003.
The first shop was located in Hampton, but we quickly realised we needed a bigger shop than this, and we decided to move to the Highett location in September 2006. We've since moved to Braeside in 2022!
Staying true to our roots we have continued to develop our range of speciality skates whenever possible, adding Slalom and then Derby skates as these sports entered the market place.