Help A Running Store Owner Out!

Thanks alot everyone!

The T-Roller was a great idea. It seems like our team is on the right track! We are also going to use the eastbay idea, but we don't want to turn into a generic store.

We are brainstorming on ways to elliminate downtime right now.

Last question:

Product? Something like the T-Roller tat si enw and we haven't caught wind of yet.

This might be the best feedback I've ever gotten from anything on LetsRun. Minimal troll attempts.

I have not read the entire thread, so I will apologize ahead of time if that has already been mentioned. Quit hiring zit-face kids that know nothing about how to properly select a shoe for an individual. If you still refuse to not hire them, teach them to not lie to the customers about why a shoe may/may not work for them.

Gard wrote:

How are your clothing sales?

Yes, please sell more of them so that I can pick them up goodWill a few months later.

Here's a question - can you stock more cheap shoes? I realize a less expensive shoe is not going to have all the bells and whistles, but honestly I don't need a $100 shoe when I can buy a $60 shoe at Sports Authority. An Asics Gel Stratus or Nimbus or whatever works just fine, I don't need Nike's latest flywire trainer.

Maybe you'll make less profit on that one pair, but I go through a lot of shoes. If I'm a repeat customer and I go to you for all my shoe needs from now until forever, believe me you'll make your money back.

Gard wrote:

How are your clothing sales? I work in a running store and we can barely give running clothes away. We have all of the major brands such as Nike, Asics and Adidas but the stuff just sits. How many pairs of running specific shorts and shirts does the average runner own? Do you think your customers buy their shoes from you and their clothes elsewhere? I am very curious about this, there seem to be a ton of companies making running clothing and at our store it doesn't seem like a profitable enterprise.

Bring in Puma apparel if you don't have it already. I guarantee it will be in your top-3 sell-through % within 6 months.

being honest wrote:

Here's a question - can you stock more cheap shoes? I realize a less expensive shoe is not going to have all the bells and whistles, but honestly I don't need a $100 shoe when I can buy a $60 shoe at Sports Authority. An Asics Gel Stratus or Nimbus or whatever works just fine, I don't need Nike's latest flywire trainer.

Maybe you'll make less profit on that one pair, but I go through a lot of shoes. If I'm a repeat customer and I go to you for all my shoe needs from now until forever, believe me you'll make your money back.

Wow, Asics Nimbus for $60. Must be nice. What country are you in?

"We are brainstorming on ways to elliminate downtime right now."

A few thoughts. I didn't have the time to read all the posts but do you have a software system that tracts your sales? If not, I hope you at least have some type of system of customer name, address, phone, etc. Everyone asks for this info. these days. Then, when there is downtime, an employee can make a follow-up thank you call the see how their purchase if working out, tell of a special, a weekly run, a seminar, etc. Massage your existing customer base. These are the people that bought from you. Promote a referral program. "Bring in a friend and get ? off your next purchase." Give them a flyer in the bag with info. Have your employees tell the customer how many miles a shoe will last and what to look for so that they won't encounter injuries (=another shoe purchase). Maybe, a loyalty program?

Who exactly is your target market? Draw a circle around your store on a map and market the hell out of this area. What age groups are buying the most stuff? If it's older customers, perhaps hire a few "old timers."

Now, to the hard part. Measure, measure and measure. Then, you can see what is working or not and move on to another marketing idea. And put a time on each idea.

Good luck!

Have your sales person/ cashier sincerely thank each of their customers and skake their hand saying how much the customer's business is valued/appreciated.

people but apparel by brand wrote:

Wow, Asics Nimbus for $60. Must be nice. What country are you in?

I live in the U.S. I may have been talking out of my ass, I actually don't know shoe brands very well, maybe Nimbus isn't one of the cheap ones. It just seems like Sports Authority always has several Asics options in that $60 range, whether they are just cheaper models, or due to sale prices, or because they are discontinued.

This might not go down well here on letsrun but my observation is that the fastest growing segment of runners is middle-aged women hobby joggers. Some days when I'm out running on the local rec trail, I bet the female/male percentage is 75/25. I don't know if men are all too fat now and afraid of a heart attack or what, but my guess is that the big money would be selling to women between 30 and 55.

I have a local running store that caters to that segment and they do a lot of free training (couch to 5k and walk/run sort of stuff) -- so much that they're so crowded on some evenings that I've turned around and left. They do athletic bra fittings, have a chiropractor, a podiatrist, and a sports medicine doctor that come by and do little 5 minute screenings of people on some evenings, which is probably a good deal for the store and the doctor etc. probably get new clients out of it. They also have a good website, facebook page, and regular emails and push training for stuff like Race for the Cure. They've expanded twice since they opened a few years ago and seem to be doing well as a business.

So anyway, that would be my advice -- try to figure out how to be the place that middle aged women go to when they get inspired by the Biggest Loser or whatever and want to buy some shoes and athletic gear and that doesn't make them uncomfortable or looked down upon because they're not athletic. That wouldn't be how to target me and probably not most people on LetsRun, but I bet there's a lot of money in it for a store that can do that.

This is a good one. Many if not most races are majority female now. There is a ton of research on how to make women more comfortable in stores. Apparently wide aisles, large changing rooms, that sort of thing.

Good idea with the free coach. That builds some allegiance to the store.

And all you need is one of your runner employees to be the coach.

Gard wrote:

How are your clothing sales?

Yes, please sell more of them so that I can pick them up goodWill a few months later.

Hire at least one or two people that are not "elite" runners. If the customer base is mostly women and hobby runners (which it is), don't you think they'd want someone they can relate to a little better than the "elite" runner? Hire some folks that are knowledgeable, polite, but can't crack 20 in a 5k. There are people who are intimidated by good runners whether they are polite or not.

a running store close to me has a pillar dedicated to information about third-party community events. most of the flyers they have are races, but sometimes they have information on other group runs. whenever i want to find a tuneup race, i go in there to get information, and sometimes come out with a new pair of shoes.

attempt to be involved with every road race, xc, race, track meet in the area.

carry some Tri apparell (I know LR hate it but Tri folk love gear! gear! gear!)

sponsor the local elites, have them wearing your singlet. give them a sweat suit or singlet- something visable.

sponsor a grand prix of the local road races. so the winners get the "Joe's Runner Shop Grand Prix" Award at the end of the year. make it a big deal, send out emails, put posters in the store, up date the grand prix every week, send out standings...

I agree with the idea of having a table with local races and fliers. I always go to running stores to find out what's coming up soon.

Have a map with good running routes posted.

Have a yoga instructor come to your next women's night and teach them stretches that help runners (e.g. our hips tend to be really tight, so stuff that relaxes the hip area).

hire a massage therapist to do free 5 minute massages. ask the local massage therapy school to partner with you; they may do it for free or very cheaply.

your sales people might be angels inside the store, but go to the next road race and observe them there. Just because hobbyjoggers are slow doesn't mean they're stupid. If they see an elite being a jerk, they'll remember it when they see that same person in your store, especially if that person was wearing your jersey.

It is a good idea to have one person who is slow, but passionate about running. When a jogger looks up your employees on your website, they will seek the person who is most like them. The fast people will seek out fast people, and the joggers will seek out joggers.

Team in Training is a huge joke to letsrunners, but it is extremely popular in society as a whole. Contact them about hosting an informational session at your store (they hold these frequently). Give a discount for Team members who come in with their team jersey and the results for their race (or some other dated proof so they can't just keep bringing in a jersey from 10 years ago).

Maybe instead of the plain Nike/adidas/asics technical tshirts, print your logo on them. People like showing they support local businesses, and they like to show that they run.

[quote]potato wrote:

Maybe instead of the plain Nike/adidas/asics technical tshirts, print your logo on them. People like showing they support local businesses, and they like to show that they run.[/quote

This is a great idea and it works great for easy cheap marketing...get some closeout deals on some tech shirts and print your logo on them mark them at regular price then give them to every customer who purchases a pair of shoes at 50% off. Sell your apparel @ a 20% discount with a purchase of a pair of shoes at regular price.

Don't over cater to your local "elite" runners as they normally don't give a shit about anything but getting free stuff from you. Create a "Team" from everyone who frequents your store..offer those runners who promise to wear a shirt or singlet at races a 10% discount on purchases...make them your ambassadors...

Make sure your employees know how to sell the correct shoe to the customer without putting too much personal bias into the shoes...some people actually like Karhu running shoes, some like Pearl Izumi...even if asics, Brooks, Mizuno..etc sell the best to everyone else..

Lots of great advice on here regarding listening to your customers...customers will pay more at a specialty store even if Dicks, Academy, Sports Authority, etc have the shoes for less...they want a knowledgeable person to put them in the right shoe..

FYI...was told by a local Tri Store owner that Newtons were his highest returned shoe last year and this year so far...take it for what it's worth...if you fall prey to the VFF...stock up on KT Tape, The Stick and Compression socks..trust me...the last 3 love VFF and Newton disciples...it's increased their sales!! If you have the Stick...stay away from the Travel, and Marathon model..too flexible, bring in the Sprinter model..we can't keep them in stock! Foam Roller, and other stick knock offs don't cut it..although Foam Roller folks like the Stick because of it's portability...the knock offs were returned at a higher rate and we just stopped carrying them all together...