Once the Agenda show was over we took a day to visit some of the key stores in the city. First of which was the legendary DQM, which has been holding it down for the NYC skate scene for 10 years now. Some of you may know it from when it was called Dave's Quality Meats, named after co-founder Dave Ortiz's graff tag 'Meat' which he specifically used to use to vandalise the sign of a butchers next to the Zoo York office in the Meat Packing District called 'Dave's Quality Veal'.
DQM was co-founded in 2003 by legendary skater Chris Keeffe and his then business partner Dave Ortiz in the Bowery area of NYC. The store is still there now and it's product range has grown from a few pairs of skate shoes and decks, to not only a full blown skateshop but also an established clothing brand in itself.
In previous visits to New York DQM was always at the top of my list of shops to visit and this time round it didn't let me down, and neither did their brand selection, which remains as on point as ever.
Lee and Keith are the dudes that run the store day-to-day, and they're definitely the guys to talk to if you need any sort of local knowledge about the Lower East Side area - good dudes!