what are the merits of shopping at your LRS?

Can you get a shoe you want for cheaper? like on sale?

Can you get a shoe faster? (3 days delivery vs right now)

Trying it on? Obviously you can try a shoe on and be an ass and buy it online but it depends again how much of an ass you want to be.

depends doesnt it wrote:

Can you get a shoe you want for cheaper? like on sale?

Can you get a shoe faster? (3 days delivery vs right now)

Trying it on? Obviously you can try a shoe on and be an ass and buy it online but it depends again how much of an ass you want to be.

1. can get shoe cheaper

2. 3 days seems like a lot, in a vacuum - but if you still have your old shoes just rock those for another 3 days. if anything it's a benefit because it keeps an additional 3 days of wear off your new shoes.

3. most (all) people here wear the same shoe time after time, no need to try it on. reduced carbon footprint from having to drive to LRS

If you run regularly you have to source multiple pairs of shoes per year, you know well in advance when you need replacements, and you are familiar with models you want and your size. In that context there is zero advantage to shopping locally. There is always better deal online.

We’re not going to turn back the clock on internet retailing but I purchase locally to help keep our local running resource around.

Our local stores offer product but also host road races, support competitive teams, and are generally a hub of running around here.

I’ve worn Pegasus, size 12, forever but still buy every pair from a local source.

ohia wrote:

depends doesnt it wrote:

Can you get a shoe you want for cheaper? like on sale?

Can you get a shoe faster? (3 days delivery vs right now)

Trying it on? Obviously you can try a shoe on and be an ass and buy it online but it depends again how much of an ass you want to be.

1. can get shoe cheaper

2. 3 days seems like a lot, in a vacuum - but if you still have your old shoes just rock those for another 3 days. if anything it's a benefit because it keeps an additional 3 days of wear off your new shoes.

3. most (all) people here wear the same shoe time after time, no need to try it on. reduced carbon footprint from having to drive to LRS

3. Shoe models change all the time, there's only so long you can wear the Pegasus 30s and then they change the model.

maybe this wrote:

If you run regularly you have to source multiple pairs of shoes per year, you know well in advance when you need replacements, and you are familiar with models you want and your size. In that context there is zero advantage to shopping locally. There is always better deal online.

word. maybe even if you could sign up on a shoe subscription online to send one pair at "X" interval, and you get a 20% discount, that would be cool

Local Runner wrote:

We’re not going to turn back the clock on internet retailing but I purchase locally to help keep our local running resource around.

Our local stores offer product but also host road races, support competitive teams, and are generally a hub of running around here.

I’ve worn Pegasus, size 12, forever but still buy every pair from a local source.

If I bought locally it would cost hundreds of extra dollars per year. If I gave a crap whether that place stayed in business I could mail them part of the difference I guess (maybe I could estimate the profit they lose on the shoes I buy elsewhere). It would be worth it to avoid driving down there.

where else am i going go to where a girl smiles at me and ask me about my running?

kinda isolationist or localist to imply that your "local" shop is superior to an online location. i mean the online people are technically "local" somewhere. it's not as if shoes appear from thin air.

I went to a LRS to buy some electrolyte supplements and saw they had the brand I was looking for in the product I was looking for but only in trial size quantities. I'm not a hobby jogger. I need this stuff in bulk. The trial size was extremely expensive and when I asked if they sold out of the large bottle the employee which may have been the owner tried to sell me an off brand at a cheaper price. I looked at the ingredients and started rating off the additional unnescessarry ingredients it had listed compared to the other brand I was willing to buy at a higher cost. The employee seemed annoyed that I would flip the coin. Needless to say I went to another sports store where they had knowledgeable staff.

Just because a store is local doesn't mean it's a good store.

You've stumbled onto more reasons not to shop local:

-Availability of the stuff you want is not guaranteed and you don't know until you get there.

-You have to deal with obnoxious staff lacking in knowledge.

A couple of clicks and you could have avoided all that driving and the frustration of interacting with aholes.

I rarely buy shoes at my local running store. For that matter I rarely buy any shoes at a store. I almost always buy online. I do go into stores to look at the different brands and models. Very rare if I try them on. I usually get a blank stare or a "let me check in the back" if I ask if they have a particular shoe in a size 16.5 or 17. Yeah, so I check out the shoes they have and then buy online. I don't feel bad about it.

This is a snapshot of our national isolationist debate. You can buy American, which costs more, or buy the cheapest product and lose control of your options.

letsrun basement dweller wrote:

where else am i going go to where a girl smiles at me and ask me about my running?

This, plus I can brag about my PRs and look cool in front of the hoobyjoggers

Local Runner wrote:

This is a snapshot of our national isolationist debate. You can buy American, which costs more, or buy the cheapest product and lose control of your options.

i dont understand the "lose control of your options" notion. i can go buy nike pegs in size 10, in any color, online...

Like someone else said, I get to talk with someone who temporarily shows interest in my running. Kind of the original Strava. Used to be you'd go there to find out about popular or hidden gem local running routes and local training groups and clubs. None of that is proprietary knowledge anymore. Now what the LRCs boast are "gait analysis" (even though that's not what they actually do, it's "foot analysis"), ability to try on several different shoes at once (though the brand sponsoring the monthly sales contest is the one they push first), and fun runs with free chow afterward to socialize around (which no good runners attend, as a rule). The money you spend there stays in town more than shopping online in the form of salaries paid to local residents working there, rent paid to a local landlord, and local taxes for local public works. As someone else has pointed out, the opportunity cost of paying more to shop a LRS means less disposable income to spend on things like race entries and travel, both of which I value more than the services and benefits offered by shopping a LRC. Beginners and hobbyists benefit from help in finding good shoes to feel good running regularly and that's worth it to them. Me paying for that service is essentially charity, like paying someone to fold my laundry or to change the oil in my car. Completely unnecessary if I have developed the ability to easily do that for myself. I also used to regularly buy electrolyte mix there to give them a sale I could justify until half the time I went in they were out of any flavors I preferred, so I just started buying it direct from the manufacturer.

ohia wrote:

Local Runner wrote:

This is a snapshot of our national isolationist debate. You can buy American, which costs more, or buy the cheapest product and lose control of your options.

i dont understand the "lose control of your options" notion. i can go buy nike pegs in size 10, in any color, online...

I happen to live in Portland so I appreciate that every dollar you spend supports my local economy. Thank you.

ohia wrote:

depends doesnt it wrote:

Can you get a shoe you want for cheaper? like on sale?

Can you get a shoe faster? (3 days delivery vs right now)

Trying it on? Obviously you can try a shoe on and be an ass and buy it online but it depends again how much of an ass you want to be.

1. can get shoe cheaper

2. 3 days seems like a lot, in a vacuum - but if you still have your old shoes just rock those for another 3 days. if anything it's a benefit because it keeps an additional 3 days of wear off your new shoes.

3. most (all) people here wear the same shoe time after time, no need to try it on. reduced carbon footprint from having to drive to LRS

Why do people think the internet reduces carbon footprint?

ohia wrote:

Local Runner wrote:

This is a snapshot of our national isolationist debate. You can buy American, which costs more, or buy the cheapest product and lose control of your options.

i dont understand the "lose control of your options" notion. i can go buy nike pegs in size 10, in any color, online...

I think the point is that if everyone bought online, then local running stores would go out of business and Running Warehouse would increase prices. There are two sides though. Obviously if RW didn't exist local stores could charge massive premiums over MSRP if they really wanted to.

Personally, I buy shorts, spikes, etc. online, and go to my local store to try on new trainers because I like to experiment with the new models and technologies when they come out. I also want to make sure that my primary trainers are absolutely the best shoes for me.

Competition is good.