Trio Opens Charlotte's First Black-Woman Owned Skating Rink

Rollin’ Clt, the first Black woman-owned skating rink in Charlotte, was years in the making as co-owner Kendria Holmes had been dreaming of opening a rink since 2016. The following year, the former professional basketball player met business consultant Brandi Fox in a business incubator program and shared her idea. However, three years later, Brandi met the creative Sh’niqua Ussery and Sh’niqua had the same idea of a roller rink. Brandi decided to connect the two ladies and shortly after Rollin’ Clt was birthed.

“With COVID going on and everybody was on TikTok doing something, and one of the things that everybody was doing was picking up skating. Everyone was doing skate tricks outdoors,” says Sh’niqua, who is the baby of the group. “I thought to myself that’s something that really could be profitable, and it's something that people would do if we have it here. It’s also something that we could pass on, you know, to our kids. They could inherit it, so that was kind of dope.”

The trio opted not to focus on securing a building at first but instead decided to find a venue that would allow them to set up on their property. “We did want to have a building but we wanted to test our idea first. Then that's when we came up with the outdoor skating rink idea. At first, it was funny, because we just kind of played around with it. We threw it out and then once we started really, really thinking about it, we were like, “You know what, an outdoor skating rink will be good,” Brandi recalls. She continued, “And it allowed us to test it (the idea) and let us do something different because a lot of people really wanted to be outside due to COVID. So once we got there, the next steps for us were finding the location and getting the team together. We literally went full speed ahead.”

Since it is an outdoor skating rink, the ladies have Rollin’ Clt which is currently located at Armored Cow Brewing, but they also have Rollin’ Mobile, which is when they bring their skating rink out to clients who book them and they set up in a designated location. They describe the setup as similar to a mobile lounge, including the floor and seating for guests.

Because they are Charlotte natives, they could use their networks to garner interest, and upon their Labor Day launch in September, they had a great turnout. Things have been going so well that the business has secured its first contract with an HBCU. In March, they will start their Rolling Mobile College Tour. They also expect to open their indoor location in September 2022.

To learn more about Rollin Clt visit https://www.rollinclt.com.