Sauron wrote:
I would love to buy from a local store, but unfortunately the owner is a douche. They open up a store and cry small business but their managers are from out of town, and they only promote events put on by out of towners.
I'd buy local if there was a place worth going to. Instead I drive 2.5 hours North to a place I trust.
I understand your mindset completely. I used to live in the town where the local running shop was awesome. They employed some of the top local high schoolers and their managers were all in the local running scene as well. It was a place where you wouldn't just go to buy shoes, but would go knowing that you might end up spending 2-3 hours there talking about the sport. Everyone was personable and friendly and knowledgeable. Those couple hours of leisure, enjoying the sport with others, and being part of the local running community were well worth the extra $15-$30 dollars depending on the pair of shoes. That's the way a shop should be run, in my opinion. You need to give the community a reason to come in, and these guys did.
Now I live in a town where the local shop is basically the complete opposite. The first time I went in, they tried to upsell me. Went in and told them I was looking for Pegasus and they asked me if I wanted to try on some more expensive Nike, I forget which one. I said no I've been running in Pegasus for years and love the shoe, but they still tried to convince me to try on the more expensive pair. Beyond that, the prices seemed a little outrageous to me, higher than the old store I went to. The manager came across as a really callous person. I got the sense that the store was not invested in the community, so I stopped going there after 3 trips. I wanted to give them a chance but they didn't earn a 4th trip from me.