About

WHY ARE YOU BUYING SKATES FROM SOME OLD FART WHO THROWS “ROLLERGIRL” or “DERBY” ONTO HIS FACELESS WEBSITE TO GET YOUR MONEY?

BUY FROM SOMEONE WHO PLAYS ROLLER DERBY AND CARES ABOUT YOUR DERBY COMMUNITY!

Joanie Rollmoan (affectionately referred to as Romo) has been living, breathing and playing roller derby since 2005.

As a teenager, she was a rink rat. As a college student, she played guitar and helped build a network of bands around the Midwest. At age 31, roller derby started up in St. Louis and she began to merge those skills, becoming known not only as an excellent skater but also for teaching new skaters and working tirelessly to ensure all skaters felt a sense community.

Romo was an original member of the Arch Rival Roller Girls, where she skated for 6 years, skated all over the country, served in just about every position for the league, and taught some of your favorite ARRG skaters how to play. She was voted Most Dedicated, Fearless Leader, Best Roll Model, and lots of other awards multiple seasons. In 2009 she collaborated with Kelley Deal to bring The Breeders and roller derby together in a music video for the band's song, "Fate to Fatal."

In 2011 she left ARRG to found Confluence Crush Roller Derby in an effort to grow the derby community and spend more time teaching and coaching. The Crush provides both competitive and recreational opportunities to play roller derby to about 60 women, and have introduced the sport to a whole new audience on the east side of the Mississippi River just outside of the City of St. Louis.

In her years as Newbie Coach in ARRG, skaters often asked for advice about the best gear to stay safe and what would actually help them improve vs. what is just stuff someone is trying to sell them without knowing anything them or about derby. And while there were a couple derby-owned shops she would recommend, none were in the Midwest, where derby was about to explode in a big way.

In 2009 she and her life wife Lipstick Lezgo took the plunge and made it legal...an LLC (Missouri ain't California, folks), and called it Rockstar Skates. A way for Romo to talk about derby 24 hrs a day, and with new leagues  St. Chux, Peoria, Champaign, Cape Girardeau, and the new men's league, the GateKeepers nearby, there were lots of folks to talk to.

On June 4, 2010 (Romo's 36th bday), Rockstar Skates' brick and mortar derby skate shop opened in St. Louis at 5400 Magnolia on "The Hill". You can find her there every day until she leaves to go to derby practice. If you want to buy skates from a derby skater, or just talk about derby in general, come on by. She is still skating and has no plans to retire.

Jennifer Hylton aka Lipstick Lezgo started out as a Jeerleader with teh Arch Rival Roller Girls in 2006. Soon she became Romo's own personal Jeerleader. From 2008-2010 she was the league's Bout Production Chair during a period of tremendous change and growth. She served in a variety of other roles until also becoming a founder of Confluence Crush, where she is now an active skater. At Rockstar 'Stick tries to keep Romo focused, and assists the shop mascot Britney Stares with her Facebook page (your fingers don't move much when you're a 6 foot tall mannequin).

You can shop online after practice or during the day at your job at www.rockstarskates.com.

Dear Skaters,
We started Rockstar Skates because we love derby. So much that I could not stand being away from it for 8 hours a day to make a living doing anything else. It is not just our latest business venture. We work in our shop and you can find us there whenever we are not skating, sleeping, or traveling for derby. We operate by the same DIY ethic that most derby leagues operate. We have more titles than we could possibly list (accountant, web designer, marketing manager, painter, handywoman...). We want to provide the gear you need, honest and knowledgeable advice, and are committed to both our local and derby communities.

We feel the fun and empowering experience of roller derby should be accessible to as many people as possible. There are cool people who want to play roller derby everywhere. You do not have to live in a big city, or be a certain age or size to play roller derby. Everyone has an inner rockstar!

At the same time, we agree that supporting the evolution of competitive roller derby is exciting and essential for flat track derby's continued growth and success. With years of experience competing with and against some of the top skaters in WFTDA, we can help those skaters gain a competitive edge as well.

We are not Best Buy or Amazon.com. We are owners of a small business and sometimes skip desert in order to pay the rent. We don't have a huge staff or a huge warehouse. We cannot undercut the competition just to get you in our store.  We can charge you a reasonable price, that should be comparable to other shops.

We want to meet you! Come visit us! Our shop is a place to touch, feel and smell derby gear. No tasting without permission.

Love, Romo