Bob Carlson started Arbor Collective in 1995 as a brand by riders, for riders. In that same spirit, Lauren and Shane Sintay opened Truckee’s Arbor Boardhouse four years ago, with an endorsement from Carlson to operate under Arbor Collective’s name.
Lauren, a native of Mammoth Lakes, and Shane, who hails from a tiny town in eastern Oregon, both grew up snowboarding for fun, but realized after meeting in Mammoth that they wanted to work hard to create something of their own too.
Today, their 6-year-old daughter runs around the Truckee shop, which is filled with gear from a variety of brands, and an emphasis on the backbone: Arbor skate and snowboards. The Sintays built their shop from the ground up by hand, selecting reclaimed wood from across the country to act as decorative features (replanting Hawaii’s koa forests and focusing on sustainability are on the forefront at Arbor Collective).
They looked at other mountain towns and chose to open the business specifically in Truckee, feeling it would be a great place to raise a family, and sensing it would be a great community to serve through the shop. They are all about local business.
“Customer service is what sets a brick and mortar store away from an online big box store. You’re walking into a store that is run by snowboarders. We love what we do. We love this sport. We wanna perpetuate it to as many people as possible,” Lauren says.
“Both of our best memories as kids were getting to come to the shop,” recalls Shane. “I can remember being 6 or 7 years old … walking in, smelling the wax … you just don’t get that online. We really wanted to build a hub.”
Lauren adds that part of this is for the next generation.
“A true core value of this is we remember where we came from,” she says. “These [pros] in Tahoe inspire us and we’re hoping we can teach that to the kids.”
