4128 Distribution, a proud history since 1999
The name 4128 was started in April of 1999 by myself, Ben O’Neil, on my 13th birthday.
Necessity is a word used too commonly in business start-ups, but for me it was quiet simple – the products I saw in magazines where not available to buy in the area I lived.
By the age of 13 it was pretty clear school was getting me nowhere. After being suspended from school my Mum suggested that I call some skate companies to see if I could sell their products via mail order service to reach other skateboarders who had the same problem, and so began 4128 Skate Shop.
4128 was the postcode (zip code) of the suburb I was living in but later, Andrew Mapstone, came up with a coincidental reasoning behind the name – 4 wheels, 1 deck, 2 trucks, 8 bearings.
I phoned nearly every Australian skateboard company and because usual skate shops were a retail front, everyone had the same response – no. Thankfully Andrew Mapstone who had just launched XEN Skateboards at the time said yes and faxed me an availability to order.
Soon enough 4128 began to take the odd order and with the helpful suggestion from my older brother to make an “on-line store” we soon became the first on-line skate shop in Australia. 4128 grew and prospered over the following years, staying close to its roots, supporting XEN and a few more brands and growing our team, which by 2005 included Sammy Winter, Luke Croker, Joe Pease and the great late Shane Cross.
4128 as an on-line store was closed down in 2007 as my interests moved into design, manufacturing and brand management. In 2012, I could again see a need for brand representation, there was a change moving through the skateboard industry and a need for a distribution house to manage, grow and prosper core skateboard brands in an environment that suited their brand culture and beliefs.
It only seemed logical that I use the name where it all started 13 years before as a teenager – 4128.