Pic® Skate – American company for inline artistic skating
In 2020 the company Pic® Skate was put up for sale by its owner John Petell. The ad was published directly on the homepage of the company's website. The opportunity to discover the contribution of this brand to inline artistic skating...
Par alfathor
Pic Skates: a brand born in the late 1990s
Originally: John James Petell and Nick Perna
Worn by John PetellPic® skates were designed by John James Petell, a sportswear designer. He is originally from West Springfield, Massachusetts (USA). He worked with figure skating coach Nick Perna from Fairfax, Virginia (USA) to develop his products.
The result: the lack of a suitable inline figure skating shoe
Like many inventors since the end of the 19th century, the aim of the company was to imitate the sensation experience of skating on wheels. The contemporary development of inline artistic skates has contributed to the evolution of the practice of traditional roller skating. There were many inline skates on the market, be it for hiking, running or roller hockey, but none of them met the specific needs of inline figure skating. The reason: the lack of a stop at the front of the rail to jump the prickly figures that are so common in ice artistic skating.
The patents of the brand
John Petell applied for the first patent for pic skates on 27 September 1997. In total, no less than 23 patents were granted by the patent examiner. But the key element of the Pic® and all these skates is the angle of the “toe tip”, the stop at the front of the foot.
See the Ball Pic® patent and the Performance Pic® patent
Adaptable elements instead of complete skates
Instead of selling complete skates, Pic Skates has preferred to concentrate on its core business, namely frames and toe pics/toe stops. The frames can be mounted on any traditional figure skate. It is also possible to buy the complete set at Pic Skate. Finally, the brand also produces and distributes wheels of different hardness and diameter to meet the needs of all inline.skaters.
From beginners to experienced city and indoor skaters
PIC® Skate is not limited to classic indoor training. In its communication, the brand also supports its use in urban fields. In addition, there is a PIC® Skate city model that was developed especially for amateur skaters. In general, the American company wants to reach both children and adults and all levels of inline skating.
The international growth of inline figure skating
Although inline figure skating has been around for more than a century, it was pushed into the background in 1863 by the arrival of traditional roller skates, just as one of the greatest figure skaters on the ice came to the fore: American Jackson Haines.
The first World Inline Figure Skating Championships were held in 2002 in Wuppertal, Germany. Today many inline figure skating competitions are held worldwide in Paris, Geneva, Milan, Bucharest, Panticosa, Cork, Montpellier, Chicago and many other cities under the auspices of WIFSA and WorldSkate.
Contact details for Pic Skates
22 Village Drive
Riverside, RI 02915, U.S.A.
Phone 1: (800)882-3448
Phone 2: (401)490-9334
fax: (401)438-5419
e-mail: picskate@aol.com
Links
