Adrienne Cooper Is Changing The Roller Skating World
Adrienne Cooper launched Moonlight Roller in 2019, capitalizing on the current resurgence of roller skating.Moonlight includes an 18+ roller lounge in Chattanooga and a mobile skate business that provides skates and flooring for parties. Cooper released a newly developed roller skate line, Moon Boot, in May and quickly sold out of the $200-plus skates.
The brand raked in at least $3 million since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Cooper said her interest in roller skating began when she was a little girl. “Whenever I was growing up, roller skating wasn’t a cool thing to do. However, my birthday was still at a roller skating rink,” Cooper said.
After falling out of touch with her hobby, in January 2019, Cooper got her skates back out and used them to spark a career. She started a kick-starter campaign to reel in support and intrigue donors. Following a successful run, Cooper planned to open a 21+ roller lounge in the Chattanooga area but that was halted by the pandemic. She then shifted her focus to mobile skate parties popping up for events around Chattanooga, and a skate line featuring her own “Moon Boot.” The style includes a hybrid wheel that makes it suitable for skating in the street, in a trail, and in a rink, in addition to a soft form boot.
“The skates like sold out overnight and I was like OMG we have to have employees to sell these skates.” Cooper’s hopes that her contribution to “Roller Revival,” the name for the resurgence of roller skating as a pastime, she will inspire the people reflective of who she is and what she embodies.
“Inspiring to Black women, inspiring to veterans, inspiring to women in general. They can do something that people think is a niche and maybe one day it’ll blow up” she said. Moonlight Roller will host its first Moonlight X Mobile event since the pandemic on Oct. 31st at The Signal in Downtown Chattanooga. The Company is expected to release new styles this fall.