Today marks the end of a pretty significant chapter in my life. After 20 years of running our online retail business, we’ve officially closed the doors on the Shock Mansion store.
To be fair, my journey in ecom and retail started long before that. Pretty much since leaving school, I’ve been buying, selling, creating, hustling and figuring things out as I went.
For the past two decades, I’ve been the captain of this ship. Through every high, every low, every ridiculous idea, every win, every setback and every moment where we had absolutely no idea what was coming next.
And what a fucking ride it’s been.
We built Shock Mansion from absolutely nothing. No investors, no corporate backing, no big financial safety net. Just a genuine love for the culture we were part of and a desire to create something that represented it.
It was never about building the biggest brand in the world. It was about building something that felt authentic to us. Something that complemented the lifestyle we lived, the people we surrounded ourselves with and the things we genuinely loved.
Along the way, we created some pretty rad stuff. We built an incredible audience, connected with amazing people, shipped products all over the world and watched ideas we dreamed up become things people actually wanted to wear and be part of.
We even watched plenty of others take inspiration from what we were doing. Sometimes a little too much inspiration, haha. But they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?
The thing I’m most proud of? We did it on our terms.
We never sold out. Never handed over control. Never compromised what we believed in just to make the business look bigger or more impressive than it was.
And somehow, we managed to keep that going for 20 years.
But things change.
The ecom and retail landscape isn’t what it used to be. Social media has fundamentally changed how businesses connect with their audiences. Organic reach has become increasingly difficult, advertising costs have climbed, algorithms dictate visibility, and losing our main Instagram account was an enormous blow to something we’d spent years building.
There’s also a more personal side to this decision.
Somewhere along the way, we lost a little of the love for the game. The constant pressure to follow trends, produce the next thing, chase the next sale and keep feeding platforms that seem to move the goalposts every other week.
And when something you’ve loved for so long starts feeling more like an obligation than a passion, you have to ask yourself why you’re still doing it.
So rather than continue chasing something our hearts weren’t fully in, we made the decision to walk away.
And I’m genuinely proud of how we’re walking away.
Zero debt. No ongoing retail overheads. No investors to answer to. No one holding the keys to something we built.
Just 20 years of memories, experiences, lessons, friendships and a business that gave us the freedom to do things our own way.
That’s a win in my books.
But here’s the important part.
Shock Mansion isn’t going anywhere. It’s actually going back to where it all began.
Before the products, before the clothing, before the endless noise of social media, Shock Mansion was about one thing.
Sharing fucking good content.
Finding the interesting, the weird, the creative, the inspiring and the downright ridiculous things happening around the world and bringing them together in one place.
Human curation. No agendas. No algorithms deciding what deserves your attention.
Just a genuine community of people who appreciate good stuff.
That’s where we’re putting our energy now.
ShockMansion.com will continue as a home for our members, creators, contributors and people who still believe there’s room on the internet for independent voices and genuine discovery.
And I’d love to see more creators send their work our way. Whether you’re building something, filming something, creating art, chasing adventures or doing something worth sharing, we want to see it.
I’d love for Shock Mansion to become a hub for the people who actually shape the culture, not just follow it. A community of tastemakers, creators and curious minds. Whether that’s a few hundred people or a few hundred thousand really doesn’t matter.
What matters is that it’s real.
I also want to acknowledge Chloe, who’s been beside me through so much of this journey, and every single person who has supported us, bought something, shared a post, worn our gear or believed in what we were doing.
You helped make something that started as an idea into a huge part of our lives.
I don’t look at today as a failure or even a sad ending.
I look at it as knowing when to close one chapter with your head held high and make room for the next one.
20 years in business. Still independent. Still standing. Still doing things our way.
I’m bloody proud of what we built.
And I’m excited to see what comes next.
Much love.
Jake 🤘
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❤️🙏🏻