‘It’s great exercise’

FAIRFIELD – A new business in downtown Fairfield will hook you up with a fresh set of wheels – for your feet.

Kate Vigmostad and Jen Kranz have founded Volition Skate Co., selling roller skates and accessories. The two have a storefront at 103A N. Main St., just north of Café Paradiso. They said business has been going well, and that they had about 80 sales over this past Thanksgiving Day weekend, almost selling out of their inventory.

Vigmostad and Kranz are both single moms, and they became acquainted through a group of people who met a few times per week over the summer to roller skate. Sometimes the group met to review basic skills on the basketball courts at O.B. Nelson Park, and when they were feeling adventurous, they'd perform tricks in the skate park nearby.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been tough on many businesses, but one thing it has done is push people to go outside. Vigmostad and Kranz have noticed more people are getting into activities like skating because they can be done outdoors and at a safe distance from other people.

They began to hear stories about fellow skaters placing orders for a new pair of skates and having to wait three to six months. It seemed the supply of skates was not keeping up with the increased demand. And that's how the two ladies got the idea to start selling skates on their own, beginning this past July.

'We were watching other companies struggle to fulfill orders,” Vigmostad said. 'We discovered there's a huge market for skates.”

Both women are splitting their time between the skate shop and other ventures. Vigmostad runs Aerial Fitness Underground, a pole fitness and aerial arts studio, while Kranz is a fulltime student at Maharishi International University, where she's studying digital media and conscious entrepreneurship. Kranz will graduate later this month and said she is excited to devote more time to the business.

Fairfield had a skating rink years ago in the southeast part of town. Vigmostad remembers it fondly and said she spent many weekends there. The two said they would love to be able to open a new rink somebody.

Vigmostad and Kranz are often asked about the difference between roller skates and roller blades. Roller skates have two sets of wheels side by side, whereas roller blades have all wheels in a row. Vigmostad said she prefers roller skates because she can perform dance moves in them, which doesn't seem feasible with inline skates.

'I like the mechanics of roller skates,” Vigmostad said. 'The way you shift your weight around is closer to skateboarding.”

The two said that roller skating is a fantastic exercise.

'You can actually burn a lot of calories in a short amount of time. From what I've read online, it's like 600 calories an hour,” Kranz said.

'Kate and I will just skate around our shop in Fairfield, and within half an hour, I'm sweating, and that's just from skating in a very small space,” Kranz said. 'It's great exercise. You can do anything on skates, like work your abs. Kate likes to do handstands with skates on.”

'Other physical benefits are that you get really strong and your balance improves,” Vigmostad noted.

Those interested in checking out the new shop should know that shopping is by appointment and limited to one person at a time, with a face mask. The pair have been setting up a pop-up booth to sell in Iowa City's Ped Mall, where they had great success selling a week ago.

Diana Nollen of The Gazette contributed to this story.