A bike shop born from skateboards, BMX and a borrowed $4,000.
Four decades of wheeled, human-powered fun in Santa Fe — told by the people who lived it.
It was the late 1970s and Charlie was working at a bicycle store in downtown Santa Fe. Every so often a salesman would come by with some oddball wheeled product. One day, a guy persuaded him that skateboards were the next big thing.
They were fine — for a few days. Then Rob walked in. He was 14, but talked like a banker. He showed Charlie much better gear: Chicago trucks, Cadillac wheels, Fibreflex decks. He had figured wholesale prices, doubled them for a fair margin, calculated shipping and tax, and had the cash and the phone numbers ready. Charlie was no fool — he talked the boss into hiring Rob, and together they sold $35,000 worth of skateboards that year.
When that store closed, Rob and Charlie borrowed $4,000 from Rob's dad and opened rob and charlie's in an old gas station. They spent $1,000 on brick to fill the holes where the lifts had been, built a storefront for $600, and Charlie painted the sign. That first year they sold $99,000 in goods.
They rode every wave: BMX as it was built component by component, a railroad car of outmoded rink skates converted into outdoor roller skates, and the first snowboards and in-line skates in New Mexico. One time a shipment of 750 Kryptonic wheels arrived — and in a fit of hyper-modernism, they threw them all at an employee. The store came alive with wheels. Then they cleaned them all up.
A copycat “Fun Store” opened on the same block. More fun ensued. rob and charlie's ended up the funner.
The original downtown storefront, early 1980s.
Four decades on two wheels.
- 1979
The skateboard kid
Charlie, working at a downtown bike store, meets 14-year-old Rob — who shows up with wholesale prices, shipping math and cash in hand. Together they sell $35,000 in skateboards.
- 1980
rob and charlie's opens
With $4,000 borrowed from Rob's dad, they brick over the lifts of an old downtown gas station, build a $600 storefront and stock $1,000 of components. Year one: $99,000 in sales.
- Early ’80s
BMX & roller mania
Mongoose completes, chrome-moly bars, and a railcar of rink skates converted for the street. Rollerskating explodes — and so does the shop.
- 1982
St. Michael's Drive
Downtown rents soar, so the shop moves to St. Michael's Drive — later settling in St. Michael's Village West.
- Mid ’80s
Mountain bikes & snowboards
Customers pioneer mountain biking, and rob and charlie's sells the first snowboard in New Mexico.
- 2023
A new rider at the bars
Former pro-team race mechanic Tennyson Hulcy takes the reins. The name stays — “Rob and Charlie and Tennyson's” sounded too much like a law firm.
- Today
Mechanisms of joy
Bikes, e-bikes, BMX, skate, rentals and service — open seven days a week.
Charlie Verral
Charlie passed away on August 14th. We gathered at the shop on September 27th to celebrate him — the ride got rained out, but 30 to 40 people came, some who hadn't seen each other in more than 30 years.
If you have photos of Charlie or stories to share, please send them to info@robandcharlies.com. We'd love to add them here.
Same name. Same spirit. New legs.
Tennyson Hulcy has nearly 30 years in the cycling business, including stints as a race mechanic for professional teams in China, Australia, Japan and South Korea. He took over in 2023, added bike rentals and Sunday hours, and kept everything that makes this place rob and charlie's.
“During the last 40 years, we've sold a lot of different things, but always kept focus on our core wheeled and human-powered products: mechanisms of joy.”
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