Once the heartthrob for local skaters on Los Angeles street, Lotties Skateshop closed in 2021 because of certain disputes that the owner, Mike Lottie Gigliotti, would like to keep to himself. He says talking about it would be like opening ‘floodgates.’
Ben McQueen, the skateboarder and tattoo artist, tried to bring the real-life story of artists in a docuseries, Let It Kill You, where Mike had his episode released on May 29, 2024.
In the series, Mike said that Lotties was a fun place to hang out as kids could have peace of mind by enjoying skate videos, eating, and relishing his art inspired by movies, cartoons, and pottery.
However, he had to close his most loved journey around the middle of 2021.
According to the series and Mike’s hesitance to talk about Lotties, it seems that certain disputes have occurred between his friends who helped bring Lotties Skateshop into existence.
Also, in December 2020, Mike brought up his concern about how the skate companies sell their products on their own webshop before they hit the shops.
Maybe this dispute led him to get boycotted by major leading companies.
Yet, these are all guesses after the premiere of the Let It Kill You episode. The fact is all within Mike and can be brought forward only if he feels comfortable talking about it.
The 5-year-long journey of Lotties Skateshop in the owner Mike’s own words
Mike Lottie Gigliotti, 37 years old, was born in 1987 in San Francisco but grew up in Santa Monica alongside his six siblings after his parents, Elizabeth and Vito Gigliotti moved when he was 3.
He got hooked on skating after his brother Noah gave him a hand-me-down board with which he would spend his entire day.
Meanwhile, Mike’s family seems to have born artists. His mother ran a Pottery studio, where his sister is still working and his older brother Gabriel is a great oil painter.
Taking inspiration from his family, Mike started oil painting and hand-painted boards. Later, at 19, he moved to New York and started making band flyers and pitching shirt designs.
He eventually started his own hand-drawn legacy and made a leap by making and self-publishing children’s books with illustrations. At the time, OK Bookstore became a breakthrough for him.
Mike wanted to combine his book illustrations and skateboard art in a single place, so he established Lotties Skateshope in Southern California on March 13, 2016.
He created his own merchandise with his unique idea, and the shop had everything from potter-painted boards to jeans with drawings, engraved belts, Zippos, hand-drawn movie T-shirts, hardware, and shoes.
With Lotties Skateshop, Mike became one of the most recognized skaters and an artist in Los Angeles.
The store turned into a core skate shop, where local kids could hang out and Mike would give freebies and spend all day with them skating and drawing.
However, things did not pan out as Mike wanted. He had to close the Lotties Skateshop around May 2021, which many believe was due to Mike’s leniency toward people, which returned as a backfire.
Also, Mike said that opening up about what happened to Lotties is hard for him as there is no subtle way to convey the exact scenario.
Mike is now doing graphics for Escape companies worldwide, collaborating with Andrew Reynolds for Baker, and spending time doing what he loves.
Additional Information
- Mike Lottie Gigliotti mentioned closing the Lotties Skateshop was not hard, but he regrets something he did in the past. The happy part was that he made friends for life.
- His first drawing was of Freddy Krueger in a t-shirt, and he was once a tattoo artist.
