About Us - Filler Image
About Us - Filler Image

About Us

The Boardroom is a snow, skate, wake and surf lifestyle store located in Vancouver, Canada. We have been in operation for over 30 years. We aim to provide our customers with the right product at the right price with the best service. The BR logo is synonymous with the west coast Canadian lifestyle and from day one has helped to progress and promote the activities that each and everyone, involved in the business, lives every day. We pride ourselves on learning about and using the products we sell and passing on our product knowledge to you in order to provide you the best possible product for your personal performance needs.

About Us - Filler Image
About Us - Filler Image
About Us - Filler Image

Brief History

1986

Murray picks up his first Gnu Snowboard at the ski show in Las Vegas and learns to snowboard at Cypress Bowl

1987

The Boardroom opens on Pine St. at W 4th Ave, in a 600 sq ft space, as one of the first specialty snowboard shops in Vancouver

1990

The Boardroom moves to a 2,200 sq ft building at 1717 W 4th Ave

1996

The Boardroom starts carrying shoes, clothing and skateboards

1997

The Boardroom hosts the first BR “Big Air Tour”, a three event contest series, on Cypress, Seymour & Grouse Mountain(s)

1998

The Boardroom “Big Air Tour” moves toward a “Slopestyle” format and is hosted on Mt. Seymour until 2005

1998

The Boardroom moves to a 5,000 sq ft building at 1745 W 4th Ave (current location)

2000

The Boardroom opens a 3,500 sq ft store on 21st St & Lonsdale, in North Vancouver

2001

The Boardroom opens a second 2,700 sq ft location on W 4th, The Boardroom Clearance Store

2004

www.boardroomshop.com is launched

2006

The Boardroom on W 4th expands to include 1749 W 4th Ave, a 4,500 sq ft addition to the existing 5,000 sq ft store

2006

The Boardroom on Lonsdale expands to 5,500 sq ft

2007

The Boardroom 20th Anniversary

2009

The Boardroom opens a new 5,000 sq ft office and warehouse facility on W 4th Ave

2010

The Boardroom’s North Vancouver location celebrates its 10th Anniversary

2010

Winter Olympics – The Boardroom and Nike partner up for snowboarding retrospective “Aries 2010” event

2011

The Boardroom 25th Anniversary

2014

Saxxman lives in the 1749 W4th window display for 30 days in support of Movember

2015

The Boardroom presents the Cityfest Skate Jam

2015

The Boardroom moves from 1745 to 1755 W 4th ave

2015

The First annual Go Skate Day Boardroom BBQ is held at Strathcona Park

2016

The first annual Future of Snowboarding demo event is held at Cypress Mountain

2016

The Boardroom hosts the Vans 50th Anniversary at 1749 W 4th ave

2017

The Boardroom 30th Anniversary

2018

The Boardroom supports Strathletics.

The Boardroom hosts the Volcom Road Rager tour.

The Boardroom full length skate film is released.

2019

The Boardroom on W4th adjusts its footprint and receives a comprehensive facelift.

Chris Rasman wins the Baldface stop of the Natural Selection.

2020

The Boardroom is shutdown for Covid but continues to service the community through online and curbside.

Chris Rasman joins The Boardroom team.

2021

The Lonsdale store gets a facelift

2022

The Boardroom 35th
Anniversary - Partnerships with Wired Snowboards, Fix Bindings, Salmon Arms & Coal.

2023

Darrah Reid-Maclean joins The Boardroom team.

Awards History

2023

  • Best Men's Clothing Shop - 2nd Place – North Shore News paper
  • Best Ski/Snowboard Shop - 3rd Place – North Shore News paper

2022

  • Best Men's Clothing Shop - 3rd Place – North Shore News paper
  • Best Ski/Snowboard Shop - 3rd Place – North Shore News paper

2021

  • Best Men's Clothing Shop - 2nd Place – North Shore News paper
  • Best Ski/Snowboard Shop - Finalist –
    North Shore News paper
  • Best Ski/Snowboard Shop - 2nd Place - Georgia Straight

2020

  • Best Men's Clothing Shop - 2nd Place – North Shore News paper
  • Best Ski/Snowboard Shop - 3rd Place – North Shore News paper

2019

  • Best Men's Clothing Shop - 2nd Place – North Shore News paper
  • Best Ski/Snowboard Shop - 3rd Place – North Shore News paper
  • Best Ski/Snowboard Shop - 2nd Place - Georgia Straight

2018

  • Best Men's Clothing Shop - 1st Place – North Shore News paper
  • Best Ski/Snowboard Shop - 3rd Place – North Shore News paper

2017

  • Best Men's Clothing Shop - 1st Place – North Shore News paper
  • Best Ski/Snowboard Shop - 2nd Place – North Shore News paper

2016

  • Best Ski/Snowboard Shop - Georgia Straight

2014

  • Best Ski/Snowboard Shop - 1st Place – North Shore News paper
  • Best Men's Clothing Shop - 1st Place – North Shore News paper

2011

  • Best Ski/Snowboard Shop - 1st Place – Georgia Straight news paper
  • Best Skateboard Shop – 3rd Place – Georgia Straight news paper

2010

  • Canadian Snowboard Retailer of the Year – Transworld Business
  • Best Ski/Snowboard Shop - 1st Place – Georgia Straight news paper
  • Best Skateboard Shop – 3rd Place – Georgia Straight news paper
  • Best Skateboard Store – No 1 – North Shore Outlook news paper
  • Favorite Ski/Board Store – Finalist – North Shore News paper

2009

  • SIA Canadian Snowsports Retailer of the Year (BC) – Snowsports Industries America
  • Best Ski/Snowboard Shop - 1st Place – Georgia Straight news paper
  • Best Skateboard Shop –2nd Place – Georgia Straight news paper
  • Favorite Ski/Board Store – Finalist – North Shore News paper

2008

  • Best Ski/Snowboard Shop - 2nd Place – Georgia Straight news paper
  • Best Skateboard Shop – 3rd Place – Georgia Straight news paper
  • Favorite Ski/Board Store – Finalist – North Shore News paper

2007

  • Best Ski/Snowboard Shop - 2nd Place – Georgia Straight news paper
  • Best Skateboard Shop – 3rd Place – Georgia Straight news paper
  • Favorite Ski/Board Store – Finalist – North Shore News paper

2006

  • Best Ski/Snowboard Shop - 2nd Place – Georgia Straight news paper
  • Best Skateboard Shop – 2nd Place – Georgia Straight news paper
  • Favorite Ski/Board Store – 1st Place – North Shore News paper

2005

  • Best Ski/Snowboard Shop - 2nd Place – Georgia Straight news paper
  • Best Skateboard Shop – 2nd Place – Georgia Straight news paper
  • Best Skateboard Store – No 1 – North Shore Outlook news paper
  • Favorite Ski/Board Store – Finalist – North Shore News paper

2004

  • Best Snowboard Shop - 2nd Place – Georgia Straight news paper
  • Best skateboard shop –3rd Place – Georgia Straight news paper
  • Favorite Ski/Board Store – Finalist – North Shore News paper

2003

  • Best Snowboard Shop – 1st Place – Georgia Straight news paper
  • Favorite Ski/Board Store – Finalist – North Shore News paper

2002

  • Favorite Ski/Board Store – Finalist – North Shore News paper

2001

  • Favorite Ski/Board Store – Finalist – North Shore News paper

The History of the Boardroom

In 1986, Murray Fraser picked up a Gnu snowboard from Mike Olson, founder of Mervin Manufacturing, at the ski & snowboard show in Las Vegas. That first board would go on to change the course of Murray’s life and the West Coast snowboarding industry. Having fallen in love with Snowboarding, Murray would go on to open The Boardroom Snowboard Shop. Murray’s passion for the industry and refusal to follow the crowd fueled the stores success and helped it to grow into what it is today.

In the late 80’s, there were only two shops selling snowboards in Vancouver. The sport was new but growing fast and Murray saw an opportunity to open his own store. In 1987, The Boardroom was opened on Pine St. at W 4th Ave in Kitsilano and began selling brands like Sims, Crazy Banana, Kemper, Gnu, and Checker Pig.

After the first few successful years on Pine St, Murray moved the store to 1717 West 4th Ave. In the new location, the Boardroom continued selling snowboard equipment, introducing the West Coast to the exciting world of snowboarding. Never losing sight of the values that founded the store, The Boardroom continued to shop around for product and discover smaller core brands that were on the cusp of making a splash in the industry. The Boardroom sold brands like Lib Tech and Rad Air, and also supported local brands like Option. By 1995, the Boardroom was selling an impressive, twenty-four board brands, including Ride, Airwalk, Lib Tech, Rad Air, Joyride, Barefoot, Avalanche, Liquid, Silence, Checkered Pig, Kemper, Sims, Heavy, Tools, and Hammer.

As snowboarding grew in popularity, snowboard style became popular on and off the mountain. To meet the growing demand for lifestyle products, in the summer of 1996, the shop expanded by introducing skate, clothing, and shoe departments, with brands like Sole Tech and the new kid on the block Sheep Shoes.

Since the beginning, Murray and The Boardroom have supported the snowboarding community and the industry as a whole. In 1997, the shop held Vancouver’s first snowboard contest series, The Boardroom Big Air. The event ran until 2005 and goes down in the history books as one of the largest shop contests on the West Coast. In the late nineties and into the early millennium the shop sponsored teams, supporting local riders in snow, skate, and wake. The Boardroom continues to support, celebrate and promote the industry by playing host to a multitude of snowboard events and movie premiers throughout the year.

Based on the success of the West 4th location, Murray opened a second location in North Vancouver in the year 2000. The 3,500 sq ft store at 21st and Lonsdale opened with an expanded skate department to serve the growing North Van skate scene. A few years later in 2004, the company expanded again taking The Boardroom online, bringing their products to people across Canada and the US via www.boardroomshop.com. In 2006, the North Van store expanded, adding an additional 2,500 sq ft to the retail space.

In 2007 The Boardroom celebrated its 20th anniversary and was awarded “SIA Canadian Snowsports Retailer of the Year”. Three years later in 2010, Murray and the team celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Boardroom’s North Vancouver location and welcomed the Olympics to Vancouver. With the eyes of the world on Vancouver, the local snowboard scene was pumped to welcome some of the world’s best riders to the city. To celebrate the Games, Nike wanted to pay homage to the industry. Recognizing The Boardrooms history over the last 20 years, Nike partnered with The Boardroom to host their Aries Time Capsule event. It was a retrospective look at snowboarding with attendee’s and speeches from the likes of Terry Kidwell and Ken Achenbach.

The industry has grown and changed a lot since 1987 and The Boardroom has grown along with it. Today, the West 4th locations have 12,000 sq ft of retail space, backed by 5,000 sq ft of office/warehouse space. The North Vancouver location now has 5,500 sq ft of retail space and 1,500 sq ft of office/warehouse space. Over the years, we have helped introduce many people to the world of snowboarding, and one by one they fell in love with it just like Murray did over 20 years ago. Since the shop first opened, one of the company’s greatest strengths has been the staff who all share Murray’s passion for the action sports they work and play in. Over the past decades, we, at The Boardroom have definitely had our fair share of fun, parties, and contests all the while maintaining Murray’s original vision of selling core brands and quality gear with uncompromising customer service. From the beginning The Boardroom has done it’s very best to give back to the industry and community that helped shape it and we look forward to being part of the industry for the next 20 years.