I am interested in opening a running store and I was wondering what the advantages of buying in on a franchise rather than just opening on my own? What does it cost to buy a Fleet Feet Franchise? What are the advantages? What do they do for me? I am fearful to contact them directly because I am skeptical about the advantages.
They will take 10% from you in the beginning and require some upfront money.The advantage is that you will have product lines such as Nike without having to make a huge possibly $50k first order.Other than that Fleet feet will have some other guidelones and restrictions.Good luck.But coonsiderate going out on your own first.It is not as difficult as it was in years past to get in with big brands like Nike.Also the amount of people running has increased and the economy is getting better.I wouldn't be fearful in asking questions to Fleet feet or possibly contacting another specialty in another area to ask advice.Most people that own running stores are pretty forthcoming about what it takes to open.
its just harder to get accounts without the support of the franchise. the downside is that not too many of them get opened for various reasons. around 250k to start
what area are you looking to open a store in
They will not take 10%.
If you want more info, contact them, there is a link on
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There is no obligation to buy:)
You can also contact me.
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You should e-mail fleet feet and fill out there questionaire. They are very helpful about going over the pros and cons of the business. (store size, rental space costs, area population, who your costomers really are.)
They probably would be looking for you to have between 100k and 120K in Cash before any financing to make a go at it. They only open 1-2 stores a year and there stores don't fail.
I hope some of that helps.
It will cost money to get franchise rights. The last I heard, they required $30K up front plus a 3% royalty each year. That was several years ago and may have changed. If you have limited seed capital and a good reputation in your local running community, the independent route may be a lower cost route to success.
Shop your business plan around to potential investors and banks. If you can make a go of it on your own, you won't have the drag of royalty fees on your margins. For a small fledgling retailer, that small percentage can make a huge difference on the affordibility of labor, benefits, and other varible costs. Also, look deeply into what your local government requires in fees, taxes, etc. You don't want to pay out precious capital to a third party only find yourself short when it comes to licensing and other upfront fees.
If you want to go franchise, ask a lot of very hard questions about what you will get for your money. Will the parent company act on your behalf with vendors? Will they share in the cost of local advertising / promotion? Will they provide financial support for local events you get involved with? What penalties are there if you choose to leave the parent company in the future? How easy is it to leave if the relationship ceases to be beneficial? What kinds of business support or consulting services do they offer? Make sure that your franchise partner matches your business philosophy and respects what you want from the arrangement. At the end of the day, it's your business and your financial risk, not their's.
In any event, do a thorough amount of investigation before you take the plunge. Good luck!
I looked into the very time consuming and expensive process of FleetFeet, I even made the trip to corporate for the interview phase.
Long story short, I never felt like it was my going to be my business, or that my decisions would really effect the overall business. Sure very few FleetFeet fail but I did not want "another generic Fleetfeet" I wanted my personality, advertising and ideas in the store. People know what to expect at Fleetfeet ,just like Dicks and Galyans.
I opened my first store with relative ease, financially and with vendors, and have since opened a second. First year sales in a town of less than 100,000 and 1500 sq ft store were $250,000
Words of wisdom, NIKE SUCKS! I have tried numerous times to open with them but their reps are the worst in the business. Opening an account with Nike is like opening a Fleetfeet, very time consuming! Do your homework now, try to find out who your Nike rep is, what type of accounts he deals with (RSC, Team or Inline footwear) and have him send you info on the process.(good luck)
I have managed to carve a niche in the area without Nike with sales increasing 20-30% each year. Mizuno is my top line and my top rep, followed by Adidas, Saucony, Asics then NB. NB has alot of product and some very hot field reps.. but customer service at the corporate level is lacking.
Mizuno is an awesome company. State of the art technology in their shoes with a very performance oriented feel.
My take is that people get into Fleet Feets because they are risk adverse and want the security of a big company, but the rewards of being an store owner.
In the end, the owner and his staff are what makes a running store great, not the sign in the window.
Based on what I have heard from two friends with stores in New England, Mizuno is in the process of chewing off a tidy chunk of ASICS and NIKE's running clientele.
It appears they (Mizuno) LISTEN to consumers. Hungry company on the way up. Note that they also make gloves, bats, catchers masks, etc.
I swapped an email with someone who helps answering email at Arthur Lydiard's website. I was advised that Lydiard, while not PROMOTING OR BEING AN ADVOCATE for them, suggests Mizuno and ASICS are the shoes to use, especially their racing flats.