Shorty's Hardware was founded by Tony Buyalos and April Hamrick around 1992. At a time when street skating was taking over and riser pads were no longer necessary, Shorty's stepped in and filled the need for shorter hardware, hence the name Shorty's. The brand first gained momentum after hiring a local girl named Rosa to appear in an ad, which was so well received that Rosa quickly became the Shorty's model of sorts. Over the years, Shorty's grew to include multiple hardware divisions, Shorty's Skateboards and the short lived Shorty's Snowboards. In early 2011, Shorty's ceased production of Shorty's Skateboards in order to refocus on it's hardware division.