I work at a running store. Ask me anything

Reality Bites 2 wrote:

I see you paid attention in your training, young chap. Way to tow the company line!

U Mad Bro?

Do you ever feel bad for selling a "New Years Resolution Runner" a pair of shoes knowing they are going to give up running 6 weeks (or less)?

How long does it take you to figure out if someone is a serious runner or not?

What's the largest amount you've seen one person (ie not a group sale) buy in a single transaction?

BUMP

OP, where are you?

How do I get as lean as Chris Froome?

Yet Again wrote:

Do you ever feel bad for selling a "New Years Resolution Runner" a pair of shoes knowing they are going to give up running 6 weeks (or less)?

How long does it take you to figure out if someone is a serious runner or not?

What's the largest amount you've seen one person (ie not a group sale) buy in a single transaction?

No because that's probably 50% of the people that come in anyway.

Within the first 10 seconds.

Last year I had a guy spend about $1100

LoneStarXC wrote:

Talk to me wrote:

Too many to say. Customers tend to be awful.

Ok, what’s one example of a strange request you’ve gotten from a customer?

Once I got a call at the shop from and older gentleman who called because he had "a gripe" about a pair of Brooks. He comes in with a pair of last year's Beasts, worn down to oblivion, that he purchased at some race expo on the other side of the country the prior year. He wants to return them to us, for a full refund (keep in mind they didn't even come from us. Also they're a year old. Also they have 1000 miles on them.) because the upper had a small hole tearing in it right above the big toe, as often happens with some feet. If we don't honor his demand he "is never buying Brooks again." He goes on to talk about his monetary investments in the company and all of the "higher ups" he knows there. So we better look out.

I gave him their customer service number and sent him on his way.

Anyway, instances like that...everyday....I. Just. Can't.

I just realized I need a new job asap.

This seems like the shoes that will best serve my purpose and fit the best, but I'm going to buy those over there.. do you have them in a color that matches my new running jacket?

Talk to me wrote:

Do it!

What makes you think running store employees, often high school and college kids, know enough about running biomechanics to watch someone run for a minute on a treadmill and give advice based on that?

If the feet on the computer are red, that means it's bad

Talk to me wrote:

LoneStarXC wrote:

What’s the strangest request you’ve ever gotten from a customer?

Too many to say. Customers tend to be awful.

with an attitude like that I am sure you are a great employee.

Hey, I have plantar fasciitis and what I believe to be heel fat pad atrophy. Ive tried foot rollers, ball rolling, trigger point massage, stretching and strengthening exercises, exercises to fix my anterior pelvic tilt which may be contributing to my problem as well, foot scraping, wearing toe separators ("realigning foot bones") , I also no longer sit for more than 30 minutes, Im currently using heel cups for about 3 weeks with little improvement, after doing this for 9 months couldn't stand it and got a cortisone shot in my left foot which did help but theres still pain there, and finally I wear Nike free shoes most of the time. I heard these shoes have zero drop which ive heard are good for PF (read that here).

What shoe would you recommend? Ive been thinking about buying a Birkenstock shoe with a wide toe box which ive also heard is great for PF, supposedly it lets the foot move more "naturally", and I was told from one of their customer service reps that I should go with the soft foot bed because of my fat pad atrophy. What do you think? You might not be certified to give medical advice but any help is appreciated please!! I havent been able to work because of this pain. It feels like theres a somewhat sharp small pebble in both of my feet and sometimes the pain creeps up on my left leg to my calves and its not fun. Thanks in advance.

That’s really funny. ? But I can imagine how frustrating that situation would be.

The local running store near me in NJ stopped carrying Adidas. Why would and independent LRS cut out an entire brand which happens to be one of the most popular running shoe brands in the world?

I have no reason to shop there now. Why would they do that?

Have you met any pro runners while working?

You want the opposite of low offset. You want high offset. You want to take the pressure off the forefoot.

Nike Free are the worst possible shoes if you're suffering an active case of PF. You've gone in exactly the wrong direction.

Eventually, of course, it would be a good idea to work into Nike Frees or other low offset shoe. But not right now! Go the other way and get that problem fixed. Then SLOWLY work into, or towards, a low-offset shoe.

Old Man Runner wrote:

What is the biggest profit item in your store? I know it's not the watches as those have almost no profit margin in them.

Like how much does a case of say Gu Energy Gels cost you versus how much do you sell them for?

An individual pair of shoes that retail for $120. How much does your store pay for those shoes?

I am not OP but when I worked at a running store for a hot second I was encouraged to tell people to get socks whenever they got shoes because they have the biggest profit margin. For that reason I only buy my socks in 6 packs from discount stores like ross, tj maxx, marshalls

Reminds me of something that once happened to a friend of mine. An older lady came in with a pair of mizuno's that were several years old, and what was left of the rubber on the bottom was peeling off of the foam. She said "this has never happened to me before" and asked for a refund or exchange and my friend said "When you use shoes, they get worn out. That's how shoes work. We cannot do anything for you. If you really want to pursue this, talk with Mizuno, but I can guarantee you they will not do anything for you either. This is just how shoes work, anyone can tell you that." and she just kept saying over and over again "but this has never happened before!"

While I'm at it, a couple other fun stories from friend as well as myself, when I worked there.

From Friend: Man called and wanted to set aside a pair of brooks beasts, but ONLY if we could confirm that nobody else had ever tried them on before. Said we couldn't guarantee that because that's just not something that is tracked, the man went on about how he didn't want to have any of the life of the shoe taken up before he purchased them by people trying them on... as if that was going to make a difference. I think we offered to order a pair new that could be set aside for pickup but not sure whatever came of it, it was before my time.

Onto my stories: Woman once came in with her teenage son, both brought their previous shoes with them (brooks ghosts and adrenalines, previous model year.) I just brought out the newest ones, they didn't even try them on, just went to the counter, and right when the lady was about to pay, she said "hold on one second" and walked down the althesiure aisle and picked out like 4 things without even breaking stride. Just things she thought looked cute, I guess. Total was almost $600. Easiest, fastest, AND biggest sale I ever made.

Once sold a woman with 2 different sized feet 2 pairs of the same shoe, in the 2 different sizes. Felt kind of bad about it but she was clearly old money and an extra $100 wasn't a big deal.

I like Adidas wrote:

The local running store near me in NJ stopped carrying Adidas. Why would and independent LRS cut out an entire brand which happens to be one of the most popular running shoe brands in the world?

I have no reason to shop there now. Why would they do that?

Adidas has sadly become incredibly difficult to work with if you're an independently owned shop, that is likely why. It's by design as they're putting their manpower into serving the big box retailers and chains nowadays. It's a shame, their product was awesome for many years.