The Fat Skeleton Story
HOW IT ALL STARTED
If you’re only just getting into this particular part of the bike scene & have not come across us before, allow me to Introduce Fat Skeleton as your one stop shop & information resource for all things to do with the custom motorcycle scene.
Fat Skeleton was established in 2000 after I took a “holiday of a lifetime” trip to Bike Week in Daytona Beach, Florida. I’ll never forget that first walk down Main Street, the amazing bikes, the carnival atmosphere, the friendly American men & women bikers, the bars, the live music….and then there was the Biker Clothing & Accessories.
I’d NEVER seen such an amazing choice of biker gear, gear that I’d previously only seen in American publications like “Easy Riders’: I was the proverbial kid in a candy store, each new store front bombarding my senses & emptying my wallet.
This was COOL stuff, but virtually NONE of it was available back home in England. I reckoned that if I was taken by this stuff, people who rode the type of machinery that I loved would probably feel the same, I felt pretty certain that there would be a demand for this back in the UK & I made my mind up that after a lifetime of working in retail for other people I’d now set up my own Cruiser Apparel & Lifestyle Accessory business based from my Home Office in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire.
We started to exhibit our unique & unusual gear at the many Bike shows that then throughout the UK, and it became apparent very quickly that my hunch about the home grown demand for this particular type of biker gear was every bit as strong & enthusiastic than I could have hoped for.
Our customers, just like myself in Main Street Daytona, had never seen the likes of this type of stuff before, and Fat Skeleton became responsible for introducing many staple items American biker lines to the UK for the first time ever.
In the early years I spent a lot of time knocking on my new American suppliers doors. They were surprised that I was one of few UK Company’s they’d ever dealt with, quite a few initially thought I was based in ”New England”. I had to explain that no, I was from that grey cold & wet rock some 5000+ miles away across the pond.
Guess they liked me & my orders, as some 20 years later I no longer have to knock on the doors, through the wonderful evolution of the internet they now contact me often nearly on a daily basis to discuss the latest deals & new lines, as well as telling me just how wonderfully warm they are whilst we shiver in the warmth of the British summer.
Over the past years there have been a few similar business’s attempt to copy our business model, but without exception they all no longer exist. Guess it’s our enthusiasm for the sector we work in and Fat Skeleton’s strong customer service values that made us successful even throughout the hard times of 2007 right up to these interesting post “Covid Days”.
WHERE WE’RE AT NOW.
We now operate from our 3,000 sq ft warehouse in North Nottinghamshire, a short journey from Junction 27 of the M1. As well as housing our busy Internet & Mail Order fulfilment operation, we’ve also got a compact retail space where visitors are welcome to call in to try on our gear for size, as well as partake in a warm beverage & talk bikes! Even if it’s not on display, if you’ve seen it on-line we can bring it out of the warehouse for you to look at.
In 2019 we realised that to deliver the level of product range & customer service that our rapidly exploding internet side of the business required, we took the tough decision to step away from exhibiting on the UK’s Motorcycle Show circuit. This has allowed us to beneficially re structure our on line offer and improve by giving a better pricing structure and on line returns policy than was previously possible.
If you sign up for our e mail list you’ll also receive regular industry & product updates, including access to our Fat Skeleton photo gallery from UK, European & American events which feature some awesome custom builds that you may not have previously seen!
OUR RETAIL SHOP
We’ve a compact but well stocked retail area at the front of our warehouse, and you are welcome to visit during our opening times which vary depending on the time of year. These can be found on the home page of our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/fatskeletonuk
If we’ve just had a delivery, you may have to bear with us as we’re a busy working warehouse. Our shop is stacked with goodies, what you WON’T find is a customer lounge area with a nice leather Chesterfield sofa, a retro barber chair or a selection of essential beard oils! What you WILL find is a warm welcome, professional advice and if we’ve got time we’ll pop the kettle on for you!
