Another Soler's Sports in SA bites the dust.. Is this the end?

Knowledgeless Newbie wrote:

First Soler's Sports over in Stone Oak closes due to increased rent back in January, now the Jackson-Keller location has closed its doors. A sad day for the SA running community as the shop was one of the original running stores in the area.

With only two locations left, is this the end of the business? Anyone with knowledge of the situation?

The other two locations will close by the end of this year or first qtr next year. They were losing a lot of money.

Sad, but sign of the times due to online sales. Roger must be getting close to 60 years old ?

Are they having any closeout sales ?

sa2 wrote:

Sad, but sign of the times due to online sales. Roger must be getting close to 60 years old ?

Are they having any closeout sales ?

Can't have a closeout sale if you don't have inventory to sell. Cant bring in inventory when you fail to pay for product.

Soler's Sports has become a laughing stock in the local community.

Has nothing to do with online sales, and everything to do with a lack of small business common sense. Talk to any former employee (and there are a ton of them) and you'll hear a common thread of an owner who failed to take advice, didn't take care of employees, treated his stores like a sexual romper room and and ex wife who liked to treat people like crap.

Roger was great. Don't slander. Run Specialty business is tough. Tons of doors have closed in the last 18 months, even RSG is looking to sell all the doors they purchased.

Sexual romper room?

It is a bad business to be in.

What purpose do they serve? You can buy anything they sell online. We have all the information we need for purchases online, too.

The majority of these businesses fail. I think Fleet Feet, Luke's Locker, and Finish Strong are the only ones really doing well in the Houston area.

Soler was a big deal 10-20 years ago.

Even RunTex finally closed and that was the state's best known store.

Another thing I can't stand about these companies is that they really steer you to the shoes that are the most friendly to that particular store. They will do so with a condescending attitude ("Real runners don't wear Nike, etc) even though the real reason is that they benefit more from pushing Brooks or Saucony.

Have you been in Luke's locker recently? Layoffs, stop on inventory, haven't been able to get a Kayano in 6'months. I'd give them business but they don't have product.

Not slander if its true... I can personally confirm that 210 runner knows what he is talking about.

Isn't Romper Room a kids show like Sesame Street? Were puppets involved?

Hdkdkssk wrote:

Sexual romper room?

with a strap-on mom, yes.

I can confirm everything that 210 Runner said here. As much as online sales have become an easy way for people to purchase the running gear they covet, Soler's has been blown out of the water by iRun. Soler would buy discount shoes from friends he had in Peru and incentivize employees to push them no matter how poor the quality was or how bad of a fit they were for an individual. I remember one instance where he wanted us to fit every person (unless they were really overweight or had extreme pronation) into a Fila racing flat. I personally had to return at least two pairs of Spiras in which the spring came out of the sole of the shoe into somebody's foot. Outside of a generous store discount, he was brutal to his employees. He was never short for people that wanted to work there though because there wasn't much competition and it as a great way to feel a part of the running community. In addition, he sullied his reputation with many reps by explicitly saying he wasn't going to pay a bill. The most recent occurrence that I know of was in summer 2015 when there was a couple of weeks where Solers wasn't going to carry Brooks anymore because of a billing dispute with Chris. While it's very disappointing this is happening, I've been expecting it for the last few years. Pour those 40s out for Soler Sports.

The end is nigh. February is the last month of Soler's Sports. Broadway is the last store open and doing closeout sales on lots of stuff. Sad to seem them close up but still due to their inability to compete and adapt. Roger now to become a full time Peru tour guide!

Wish I could say I feel bad for Roger but I just can't.

Luke's is bankrupt

Texas HS Coach wrote:

It is a bad business to be in.

What purpose do they serve? You can buy anything they sell online. We have all the information we need for purchases online, too.

The majority of these businesses fail. I think Fleet Feet, Luke's Locker, and Finish Strong are the only ones really doing well in the Houston area.

Soler was a big deal 10-20 years ago.

Even RunTex finally closed and that was the state's best known store.

Another thing I can't stand about these companies is that they really steer you to the shoes that are the most friendly to that particular store. They will do so with a condescending attitude ("Real runners don't wear Nike, etc) even though the real reason is that they benefit more from pushing Brooks or Saucony.

Run On(DFW chain) "partnered" with rip off online company Jack Rabbit.

Rip off because they sell stuff they don't actually have in inventory and make people fight for refunds. There are many many online reviews with the same theme.