Word: rollers
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Ralph G. Newman, president of the Ulysses S. Grant Association, protesting free-form benches placed around Grant's Tomb: "It's like having a roller-coaster ride running up and down the Lincoln Memorial...
Just as pedestrians were getting used to the sidewalk intrusions of skateboarders, cyclists and joggers, they had to make room for another mobile urban menace: roller skaters. The U.S. now has an estimated 28 million of them, and a Gallup poll has found their passion to be the fifth most popular participation sport among teenagers, ahead of tennis and skiing...
There is now a Girl Scout badge for proficiency in roller and ice skating, and at the Pan-Am Games in Puerto Rico earlier this summer there were 16 roller events -ten of which were won by Americans...
Costs range from $50 for the cheapest models, which are like running shoes with wheels, to $400 for custom skates with high tops for maximum ankle support. Dayton-based Snyder Roller Skate Co., which outfitted the U.S. athletes at the Pan-Am Games, makes precision-built skates for professional rollers. Sales of its basic but still pricey ($109 to $175) models have risen by 30% in the past year. The roller boom has spawned a flock of sidewalk entrepreneurs who rent skates from the backs of vans. But the people who are really cleaning up, besides the equipment suppliers...
...only sporting goods outlets but also major retailers like Macy's and Marshall Field. They now sell not only skates but also items of rolling paraphernalia like arm and knee pads priced at $5 to $15 a pair and $10 visors that light up at night for safety. Roller fashions are also in demand. Chicago Designer Roberta Jakus' "Roller Rinx" line of satin, spaghetti-strap tank tops and shorts and jackets are selling at $43 per outfit. One manufacturer is preparing a line of skates that look like cowboy boots but carry a city slicker price...