Starting a Running Shoe Store (Advice, Thoughts & Resources) ?

Our runner and savior SJD opens boxes of shoes that arrive via shipping services, a few times a week. I have not yet seen him go to a brick and mortar shoe store and walk out with shoes.

There have been multiple threads with a lot of insight over the years. Try searching them out. Here's one:

https://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=4986122

A partner and I tried doing it about six years ago. The major brands wouldn't work with us because their studies indicated that another store would just decrease their sales from nearby competitors, not increase their sales. We would have only been able to offer what was then off brands, like ON, Altra, Pearl Izumi, etc. We dropped the idea. It turned out to be a great decision.

I have never run a store but worked run spec for many years. I agree with the guy on that other thread that stated you have to maximize every opportunity possible besides selling actual product. The place I've worked at is huge in probably the largest market in the US so they don't get treated like a small shop would. Even still when Mizuno changed sales reps they tried to shaft the store and we dropped them for 2 years until they came back to us. I alone was selling probably selling anywhere from $5000 to even up to $15000 worth of product a week depending on the time of year (from Friday to Sunday I once sold nearly $20000 in those three days) so that gives you an idea of how big the business is. If you want the store to thrive you need good employees that care about running and aren't looking for just a check. Coaching/having a run club and putting on races is a must. Having some sort of space open for public use makes sense also like Tracksmith does. If you want people to buy your stuff you've got to make them feel invested in your store. If people like what you are doing beyond selling there are people out there that will gladly pay extra to give you money instead of buying online. Most will still only buy online but the most dedicated people will buy most of their gear at your store.

Implement ways to keep good employees with you. The two biggest things keeping me around was gear stipends and also the fact that my employer would pay for my races. It doesn't sound like much since I am not a marathoner so my races were never super expensive but those two things were a big deal to me. If I wanted my free gear I needed to race and represent my store a certain number of times each quarter barring injury and if I raced under them they payed me back for it. The last part is that if you can do it you must go to bat for your employees to get them free stuff direct from companies. When I started we used to get a lot of free stuff but by the end it had dwindled because the person that pushed to get us product moved on and the replacement didn't have the same tenacity. It doesn't cost these companies anything to send you free gear to give out. It takes them $5 to make a pair of shoes, the shipping costs more. Develop good relationships with local reps, bring them in for clinics and events. Eventually they will treat your business better.

One other thing that I thought about is the idea of having a PT business that also happens to sell shoes. I have heard of a few places that do this and it sounds like a good idea as well. You treat the patient and fit them if they want to buy shoes, as a customer you know it's not some BS sales talk you're hearing because the employee is a PT not a salesperson.

Idk how many times I had people come back to me when I specifically got them to buy shoes that we didn't sell or have in stock. People respect when you aren't just trying to get a sale and they will come back the next time.

start up costs are disgusting, opening with shoe vendors is stupid. These sales reps feel you work for them and play favorites. Shoe vendors will only speak with you when you place major futures orders with many SKU's. Owned a store for nearly 30 years with over a million in

sales per year and NEVER see sales reps, do not get catalogs, never receive swag or promo shoes because I do not have multiple locations....nada and these bastards are getting commissions and I have NEVER met them. Be prepared to sell many "good walking shoes " to grandmas, Hoka's to waddlers and racing flats to 45 year old, 250 lb whales looking to shave 45 minutes off their PR from age 24 for a Boston qualifier.

Karen with middle school kids in tow will be looking for Kohl prices for the Nike, have no idea what stability shoes are, over pronation causes/cures and why cotton is rotten. They will pick your brain for an hour, claim we are just looking and the next day at XC practice the same kids will be wearing Nike Downshifter in school colors.

I try shoes on in running stores and then order from runningwarehouse.com

Hey everyone - thanks for the input. I'll take a look and search at some other threads on here as well. But generally speaking is my understanding of the business model correct?

And just as reference I'm asking a lot of basic/general questions because I'm thinking through a new business model where it's not the typical sales/wholesale model. I have a lot of work to do but trying to get a baseline understanding of the current model.

- You own a store*

- You have sales reps (essentially one from each brand)

- These sales reps basically want you to "buy" inventory for your store each season

- Then you have to sell this inventory between specific prices (and not markdown too early)

- Your P&L at the end of the day is reflected of how you many costs (since your profit margin is generally consistent)

- The "best" performing stores are ones with passionate employees and a very tight/close running community

*Key here is that major brands won't work with early/smaller stores and will only work with big stores that push a ton of sale?

Thats an interesting point ...

-So if Nike believes the total target market for Austin Texas (example) is 5,000 people (all male/female runners)

- And they believe 20% would wear Nike which is 1000 people

- A new running store that sold Nikes wouldn't increase the 20% since that is their expected total market already

- So another distribution channel increase the 20%, but more marketing on Nike products would increase that 20%...interesting

I'll try to be as helpful and open as possible. Feel free to ask questions.

Yes, you are right that you will have a contract with each brand you bring into the store. You will most likely work with a sales rep from that brand, who will be your contact point for that brand. You will sign an agreement that you will not sell their product for less than what they charge. I guess you could charge more, but that is just dishonest with your customers and will drive people online. You can sell product for less the moment it gets old and the new version comes out. So for example the Ghost 12 is out now. When the Ghost 13 is released you can sell the old inventory for however low you want. A bad thing about this is that manufacturers are in control of this. You can't go lower than them, but they can go lower than the msrp. This is annoying because all the brands now say "we really want to treat our run specialty accounts as our number one" but then the next day that brand is selling their stuff for 30% off because it's labor day weekend. It doesn't happen often but occasionally you'll get customers coming in saying X is selling this shoe for $80 on their website, you look it up and match them, but you as a store lose money on selling it that low.

Someone brought up a good point earlier. Some brands won't work with you unless you've been open a certain amount of years or you have done a certain amount in sales. When you apply to work with a brand they will ask for your financials to see about working with you. So right away I will tell you that Nike and Asics won't be working with you as a new store. Some brands don't care and will open an account with anyone.

Another point that was brought up is that brands might not want to work with you because they already have x amount of accounts in that area and don't want to dilute the brand or take sales away from other stores. Some brands may only have an exclusive dealer in the town you're in.

A big thing to know about working with brands is that each one will have different requirements. X brand may require you to caring 6 models of their shoes. Y brand may require you to order $30K worth of inventory in a year but don't worry about the number of models you carry. Z brand may require you to order $40K in shoes and $15K in soft goods (clothes, etc). Most if not all brands require you to put a certain dollar amount on future orders. Meaning you may have to order $10K in inventory in advance. Which can make inventory management tough. It's a guessing game. You think the Ghost will crush it this year so in June you order a bunch of new colors to be shipped in November. If the new model sucks or customer appeal for that shoe shifts, you may be stuff you a ton of unwanted inventory. Some big stores may not have an issue moving inventory like that, but most stores would. That's why every run specialty store you go into has a ton of shoes on sale. And any shoe sold for more than 40% off, you lose money on. So you don't want to go in over your head with too many models of shoes or even brands of shoes. Each market is different. And each store is different. I've worked with brands where really only one shoe sells like crazy and all the rest on the wall barely sell, so a lot of those go into the sale room. I've also worked with brands that have a ton of brand presence and popularity but none of their product goes out the door because it just doesn't feel good.

I would recommend looking into where you want to open a store. How big is the population? How many of those people are runners? How many stores already sell running shoes? Also consider a large amount of those runners buy online.

Customer service has to be above and beyond what others in your area provide. Most customers could give a crap where they got their shoes. In fact, a lot of people shop based on price. You'll have customers get fitted for shoes and will search online for deals right in front of you.

Also something to know if you were to open a store is who you will be working with. You may be imagining all the Olympic trials hopefuls in your town will be hanging out and shopping at your store all the time. Rarely the case. Those people already get free stuff and never have a reason to shop at your store. Your average customer will be a female from 30-40 years old training going from couch to half marathon. Another large segment will be people who don't run but want a shoe to walk in. And another large segment will be seniors who were told by their pt to get new shoes. Nothing wrong at all with these groups. Just be aware that this is your audience. So you won't be hanging around the store talking about tempo runs and track workouts. You'll be helping people figure out how to keep going after running 4 miles.

A major thing I would honestly ask yourself is does the town I'm in even need a running store? Or it may be, does this town need ANOTHER running store? And also really do the research on what kind of market share you could have. You kind of mentioned profit margins previously, but you need to really want to be working (even weekends and holidays) a lot for a low salary. I've heard this phrased a different way, but would owning a store be worth having a $40K a year headache? And actually you may not even take home any money for a few years before you can start paying yourself.

The best piece of advice I would give any potential store owner is that you should absolutely spend time (6-12 months) working in or managing someone else's store first, and make sure you are OK with working just about every single weekend day. That will give you a taste of ownership.

I could not agree more. Also, it will give you an understanding of how it all works will all the brands. And would help build a relationship with reps. From experience, opening an account with a brand is harder when you don't know the rep

Gather all the seed funds you can manage, withdraw in cash, toss into a steel drum, douse with gasoline, and take a flamethrower to it. E-commerce will eat you alive, just get the misery over with quickly.

I have watched a bunch of local running specialty stores die over the past 10 years. Maybe if the corona virus takes out the competition in your area, there could be an opening. But I really do not see how anyone can make it work with a single location.

I think there is some room for more of a broader fitness/lifestyle concept. There are a fair number of brands of workout clothes, yoga gear, and outdoor hiking gear that do not have any presence at REI, or the other similar regional outlets (Sun & Ski, etc.). A guy in my neighborhood started a specialty store for hiking clothing. He sells a few lines of hiking shoes, but those are almost a loss leader for the clothing. The clothing is crazy expensive, but people eat it up because they can wear a brand from a smaller manufacturer and stand out in the crowd when everyone else has on Pattagucci.

Thanks everyone and "I'll chime in" - appreciate the detail insights - super helpful and to be honest, a little alarming to know how much power/pressure these brands put on local mom/pop stores that are genuinely trying to serve their communities.

I mentioned before part of the reason I'm asking about the current business model is thinking about a potential new model that disrupts this model - one that puts more power/money/inventory visibility into local runners stores and less towards the brand. The concept is still fluid but happy to share with the group once I get it a little bit more concrete.

I'd buy then re-sell Tracksmith stuff in affluent communities. Throw in shoe lines such as Topo, Altra, On, and see what happens.

Lululemon sells stuff, right?

You paint a bleak picture of the industry. Then again maybe it is like that. None of the running stores where I live seem any good, certainly none are putting on weeknight workouts, so I buy all my running stuff online.

The downshifters thing gets me though. I feel sorry for anybody who has to go through an xc season training in those things. I'd see them all the time at the nike outlet. I'd go there hoping to see old colorways of streaks on sale/mayflies/whatever nike flat was before that (katana maybe?), but never did. Some girl on my hs team had a pair of jasaris she claimed to have found at the nike outlet though.

I have seen way too many athletes buy the wrong shoe during summer miles and never even make it to the first practice or season. Karen wants to value shop and does not realize all Nike are not alike. I will stress a stability shoe, orthotic or trip to Podiatrist for severe over pronators who come in complaining, they check my prices and claim "I can get an Asics for half that price at Kohls".

You will always have these idiots who pick your brain, try on all your shoes, take them on a run and will go buy the same shoe online, no way around it. But then they also wear them for a few hundred and return them as defective, happens every day.

You cannot compete with big box inventory and prices, you will have a cow when you see Dicks selling a shoe for what your cost was and they will have every color of a model, they might have 12 colors in stock of Ghost.

I cannot stress enough how pitiful sales reps are, you work for them and they will bend you over a barrel every chance they get. They work on commission and want those sales from you, they want you to clearance those shoes asap and place huge future orders, you might have more inventory on clearance than new models. And they will show favoritism to the stores selling well. They will load up their big $$ accounts with seed shoes, promo swag, specialty run nights with demo shoes etc. I can attend a race expo and speak to my Brooks rep for 15 minutes and she will not even know who I am and I just placed a $10K AO order the week before.

And the spike market....OMG you are going to get stuck with spikes twice a year. You will place a huge order early summer for track hoping to get the local schools but team dealers will hit up the AD's and coaches and promise kickbacks. The kids will come to get fitted and place the orders thru their coach and you are stuck with a lot of inventory, then next season new styles/colors but you are still sitting on last year inventory. These are the same coaches who approach you for sponsorship, donations and to help out with the fundraiser 5k, and they will be wearing the kickback clothing.

After 30 years I get by, I do very well but the industry has changed and do not see how anyone could survive these days. I guarantee when my brand reps do not see my next future order they will call when they realize I have kept them living comfortable lives for doing NOTHING other than allowing me to keep my account.