Skaters started seeing “Goodbye Lakai” banners, $35 clearance shoes, and posts about founders being fired. It looked like the brand was dying. Naturally, people started asking: is Lakai actually done?
The short answer is no — Lakai has not officially closed. But something very significant did end. This article breaks down exactly what happened, who owns Lakai now, what changed, and what it means if you still buy or follow the brand.
Lakai Is Not Officially Closed — But Something Major Did End
As of mid-2026, Lakai has not filed for bankruptcy and has not made any formal closure announcement. The brand is still selling shoes, running promotions, and releasing new product. For example, a new Telford colorway dropped recently, and new season releases are planned for July 2026.
What ended was the founder-led era — not the legal business itself.
The confusion makes sense. When you see clearance sales, distributor exits, and mass team cuts happening all at once, it looks exactly like a brand shutting down. But those things are not the same as an official closure. Shredder News explicitly states that Lakai “is not shutting down” and continues under new leadership. The clearance sale was tied to a warehouse move, not a liquidation.
What Pushed Lakai to the Edge in the First Place
Before the 2024 sale, Lakai was in serious financial trouble. According to statements from new owner Marc Roca, the brand had been losing approximately $1 million per year. Roca also claimed the brand was just weeks away from being shut down entirely when it was acquired.
Here’s something many fans did not know: Rick Howard and Mike Carroll, the pro skater founders, had not actually owned Lakai for years before the sale. The brand had been owned by Japanese company TSI Holdings.
In October 2024, TSI Holdings sold Lakai to turnaround investors associated with Marc Roca. That sale is what triggered the chain of events that followed.
Who Owns Lakai Now and What They Changed
Marc Roca, a turnaround specialist linked to a firm called Inversal, acquired Lakai from TSI Holdings in October 2024. To help reconnect the brand to skate culture, Roca brought in YouTube skateboarder Luis Mora as a co-owner.
That partnership did not last. Mora was later fired by Roca, along with significant cuts to the skate team. Pro model shoes had rider names removed and were rebranded during the restructuring. These changes hit the skate community hard — removing a pro’s name from their shoe is not just a business decision to skaters. It carries real cultural weight.
Roca also separately acquired skate retailer Tactics, which raised questions about conflicts of interest. If the same person owns both a skate brand and a major retailer selling that brand’s products, that is an unusual situation.
There is also uncertainty about the ownership structure itself. Inversal reportedly wrapped up operations in April 2025. It is not fully clear who is actively managing Lakai’s ownership going forward, which adds a layer of instability to the whole picture.
What Happened to Rick Howard and Mike Carroll
This is the part that hit the skate community the hardest. Rick Howard and Mike Carroll built Lakai from the ground up and were involved with the brand for 25 years. On October 29, 2024, both were let go by the new owner.
Reports indicate they refused to agree to cutting the skate team — and that refusal led directly to their exit. Both publicly said goodbye to the brand. They no longer have any ownership or operational role in Lakai.
Think of it like a band that loses all its original members but keeps the name. Fans say “the real band is gone,” even if the entity technically continues. That is exactly how many skaters feel about Lakai right now. The brand name and logo are still there. The people who built its identity are not.
Why Shops and Distributors Said “Goodbye Lakai”
European distributor Mosaic Distribution announced it would end its distribution agreement with Lakai effective December 31, 2024. Their statement cited the ownership change and the exit of Rick and Mike as the reasons.
Retailer Tactics ran a “Bye Bye Lakai” promotion with all shoes marked down to $35. That kind of messaging, combined with clearance pricing, looks exactly like end-of-life signals for a brand.
But it is important to separate these things. A distributor ending a partnership is not the same as a brand closing. A retailer clearing old inventory is not the same as liquidation. Both things can happen while the brand itself continues operating under new ownership and new distribution channels.
The “Goodbye Lakai” framing from shops and distributors was largely saying goodbye to the Rick-and-Mike era of Lakai — not to the legal business entity.
What Lakai Looks Like Now
Under Marc Roca, Lakai is still producing and selling shoes. Some riders have stayed on the team, including Roman Hager and Bastien. New colorways are releasing. The website is active, and the brand is running promotions.
However, the brand has clearly shifted direction. It is moving away from the traditional, skater-led model that defined it for two decades. The new approach is more focused on financial turnaround and profitability — which makes sense from a business standpoint but has damaged trust within the core skate community.
Roca has publicly stated that he expected the business to break even in 2025. Whether that target was reached has not been confirmed in available reporting.
For a deeper look at how brands go through this kind of ownership transition, The Business Figure covers business turnarounds and brand strategy in a way that is easy to follow.
Should You Still Buy Lakai?
That depends on what matters to you as a buyer.
- If you buy Lakai because of Rick Howard and Mike Carroll: They are gone. The brand no longer reflects their vision or leadership.
- If you care about supporting core skate culture: Industry commentary suggests the brand’s identity has shifted significantly, though some core riders remain.
- If you just want a good skate shoe at a fair price: Lakai is still making and selling shoes. Product quality under the new ownership has not been widely criticized in available reporting.
There is no universally right answer here. The situation is different for everyone depending on why they supported the brand in the first place.
The Bottom Line
Lakai has not gone out of business. The legal entity still exists, shoes are still being made, and new product is still releasing as of mid-2026. No bankruptcy filing or formal shutdown announcement has been made.
But the Lakai that most longtime fans knew — the one built by Rick Howard and Mike Carroll over 25 years — is effectively over. The founders are gone. Key distributors have walked away. The skate team was largely cut. Pro model names were stripped from shoes. And the firm that acquired the brand has its own uncertain future.
What continues is a restructured version of Lakai under new ownership, trying to turn a financially distressed brand into a profitable business. Whether that version earns the trust of the skate community is still being determined.
The brand is alive on paper. Whether it is truly Lakai in any meaningful sense is a question skaters are still answering for themselves.
