This is Armada: Manifesto

In this section we’ll present you some selected retailers that in our eyes, in one way or another, stand out from the crowd. To get things started we decided to have a closer look at Blue Tomato, a key player in supporting the freeski movement from the very beginning.

Unbelievable but true – Blue Tomato has been around for over 30 years.

Blue Tomato was founded in 1988 when European snowboard champion Gerfried Schuller opened his Snowboard school at a time where board sports barely existed on our side of the pond. Just a few years later the first shop followed, offering snowboard products in the Schladming region.

Blue Tomato Shop Schladming 2000 | Blue Tomato Shop Amsterdam 2019

The Styrian soon recognized the great sales potential of the Internet and went online in 1997 with his website www.blue-tomato.com and has since developed the brand into one of the leading Omni-Channel retailers of the industry. Today Blue Tomato counts close to 50 shops in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands and Finland.

BT's early web shop: state of the art back in the days // BT's webshop nowadays

In 2012 Blue Tomato was acquired by the US action sports retailer Zumiez. Zumiez has more than 600 shops in the USA and Canada. Both companies are now working together, combining their passion for action sports.

WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT THEMSELVES

Blue Tomato is the retailer of choice for people who seek to express themselves, want to have unique experiences and be a part of the community that loves snowboarding, freeskiing, surfing, skateboarding and street style. We deliver the best selection of high quality products, brands and trends, a seamless shopping experience and always try to keep business fun. We are authentic, trustworthy and accessible because we share our first-hand knowledge and work hand in hand with the community to support and grow the sports and lifestyles that we love. We create opportunities for our customers and ourselves to grow, have new experiences and live our passion.