Running Insight 10.1.17 by Running Insight

THE NEWSMAGAZINE FOR RUNNING SPECIALTY RETAILERS / RUNNINGINSIGHT.COM

ENERGY RETURN The new Brooks Levitate is designed for the everyday runner, MSRP $150.

A ROYAL RETAIL SUCCESS STORY

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A Royal Bet BY DANIEL P. SMITH

HOW A SMALL ONLINE RETAILER TOOK A CHANCE ON BRICK & MORTAR AND WON.

Above, left to right: Kathy Engstrom, Sales Associate, Princess Athletic, Bend; Kathleen Quinney, Store Manager, Princess Athletic, Bend; Lauri Morris, Store Manager & Director of Online Marketing, Running Princess, Corvallis; Emily Meagher, Assistant Manager, Princess Athletic, Bend.

RUNNING INSIGHT® is a registered trademark of Formula4Media, LLC. © 2017 all rights reserved. Running Insight is published twice each month, is edited for owners and top executives at running specialty stores and available only via email.The opinions by authors and contributors to Running Insight are not necessarily those of the editors or publishers. Articles appearing in Running Insight may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the express permission of the publisher. Formula4Media, LLC, P.O. Box 23-1318, Great Neck, NY 11023. Tel: 516-305-4709.

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o back two years and ask Lu An Carone-Rhodes for an honest prediction of Running Princess’ future and she would’ve scoffed at the notion of a brick-and-mortar retail shop. “Like everyone else, I assumed people were all shopping online and from discount shops,” Carone-Rhodes says. In 2015, Running Princess was an online operation selling “princessy” t-shirts alongside a curated selection of about 15 items and three lines of apparel from other female-owned businesses. Brick-and-mortar retail was a distant thought. Two years later, though, things have changed mightily as Carone-Rhodes has expanded Running Princess well beyond its corner of the worldwide web and opened a pair of physical storefronts in Oregon. That decision has not only well exceeded Carone-Rhodes’ expectations, driving sales and merchandise expansion, but also bucked the prevailing ideology that Main Street specialty retail is dying a slow, agonizing death. “In many ways,” Carone-Rhodes says, “this doesn’t make any sense.” Origins of a specialty business In 2015, while attending a half-marathon expo in Florida, Carone-Rhodes encountered Running Princess, a then-fledgling graphic t-shirt company. Intrigued by the company’s branding and unique niche, Carone-Rhodes inquired about the company and found an owner interested in selling. That piqued CaroneRhodes’ entrepreneurial spirit.

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A Royal Bet (continued) “The financial risk was real and I was concerned I would bankrupt my husband and I, but I also thought I was fortunate to be at a point where I could invest in the business,” she says. “I even thought having a brick-and-mortar store could be fun.” When a longtime women’s clothing store in downtown Corvallis, OR, closed, Carone-Rhodes considered it fate tapping her on the shoulder and shooting her a wink. The 1,800-square foot space offered a near turnkey operation, requiring no extensive remodeling or buildout. “It seemed a perfect fit,” says Carone-Rhodes, who held abackground in business, but no retail experience when she opened the doors to Running Princess Apparel in May 2016 near the campus of Oregon State University. A brick-and-mortar surprise

Inside the Princess Athletic store.

UNLIKE THE WEB, THE PHYSICAL STOREFRONT PRESENTED CARONE-RHODES A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO DIRECTLY ENGAGE CUSTOMERS. 4

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“She was ready to move and I was, too,” CaroneRhodes says. “Plus, I thought, ‘How hard could it be to have a little running company and do some race expos?’” She purchased the company and ran the business out of her Oregon home throughout the next year, handling product design and fulfilling website orders while also attending race expos, hosting pop-up parties and turning her garage – in the middle of Oregon farmland – into a makeshift retail shop. “It was hard work, but I loved every bit of it,” Carone-Rhodes says. That’s when the idea of opening a brick-and-mortar shop slowly crept in. A retail space, she figured, would allow her to extract operations from her home and also provide added visibility to attract some new customers.

Initially, Carone-Rhodes viewed Running Princess’ various income streams – the website, race expos and the retail shop – as complementary, though distinct partners and she held only modest expectations for the Corvallis storefront that offered its own branded gear alongside fitness products from niche, femaleowned businesses like Sweet Spot Skirts, Nuu-Muu and hipS-sister. Unlike the web, however, the physical storefront presented the spirited Carone-Rhodes a unique opportunity to directly engage customers. Her positive and outgoing personality – and those of some carefully vetted hires – served an undeniable asset as she built a community for women interested in looking good and feeling good. She began offering in-store yoga and strength training classes; unveiled walking and running groups; hosted fashion shows and wine tastings; and launched an ambassadors program that ignited word-of-mouth buzz. As many entrepreneurs do, she plugged along, grinding and hustling with an overstuffed to-do list. It wasn’t until a local newspaper interviewed her earlier this year that Carone-Rhodes paused and came to an unexpected realization. “The retail store was actually the breadwinner and where the numbers were going up,” she says. “[The Corvallis store] grew much faster than I ever anticipated and, honestly, it confused even me.” This past June, Carone-Rhodes doubled down on retail with the opening of a second store in Bend, OR’s tourist-oriented downtown about 120 miles east of Corvallis. Named Princess Athletic to attract a wider demographic, the Bend store mimics the boutique feel of the Corvallis unit with its upscale, © 2017 Formula4media LLC.

#DarnTough

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RUNNING SERIES

A Royal Bet (continued) customer-focused environment, a necessary investment to compete with nearby shops from athleisure giants lululemon and Athleta. “Big dreams and growth come at a price,” Carone-Rhodes acknowledges. Finding retail success in brick-and-mortar

Yoga time. Inside the Running Princess store.

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The Bend showroom includes some names familiar to the run specialty world such as CW-X and CEP alongside the niche, female-powered brands – Kari Traa, Kiava, Handful and Manifesta to name a few – central to Carone-Rhodes’ mission and her operation’s marketplace differentiation. The Bend store also stocks six footwear models from 361 Degrees. In total, Running Princess offers about 300 items from more than 30 lines and carries sizes up to 4XL. Today, brick-and-mortar retail represents about 70 percent of Running Princess’ gross sales. Though that tally does include about three dozen race expos each year, the retail shops have far surpassed Carone-Rhodes’ early hopes. At the same time, Running Princess’ online sales have largely remained solid, but flat. “It’s not at all what I would’ve thought the numbers would have been,” she admits. While Carone-Rhodes hears warnings of the retail apocalypse, she has refused to be handicapped by them. With niche products, a defined retail environment and kind-hearted employees focused on creating a relational business, Running Princess has entered the brick-and-mortar retail game and earned success. “I’m working so much harder than I ever thought I could or would, but I’ve never been happier,” Carone-Rhodes says. “I have zero regrets.” n

BY DANIEL P. SMITH

Making Headway t’s the little company that could. Competing against some larger, more established players like Garmin, TomTom and Timex, Milestone Sports and its MilestonePod tracking device continue gaining traction in the run specialty channel’s electronics niche. The three-year-old company and its flagship product blend a consumer friendly price point and unique runner data with a savvy backend system that aims to help running retailers boost repeat footwear sales – and that’s catching attention.

An innovation rooted in relevant questions The creation of the MilestonePod began with a question from Tzach Goren, a veteran running retailer in Israel. Posed to Jason Kaplan and Meir Machlin, colleagues at Sensics, a wearables and virtual reality goggle company, Goren asked if it would be possible to create a low-cost odometer for running shoes. Such a product, Goren said, would help him address a frequent customer question: how long will these shoes last? Knowing when to replace shoes, Goren noted, would be better for consumers, brands and retailers like himself. But then, Goren wondered aloud, wouldn’t it also be interesting if retailers knew the number of miles on their customers’ shoes and could automate a message to individual customers about replacing their footwear? In 2012, the trio founded Milestone Sports and set out to solve a seemingly dreamy-eyed proposition, embracing the challenge of solving a few related problems in one swoop. From the beginning, the group started with a set of requirements. 8

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Any product had to be user friendly; it had to work inside or outside; and it couldn’t need regular recharging. “We knew we wanted to add value for consumers, too, with some additional metrics like rate of impact, leg swing and foot strike that we thought could be helpful,” says Kaplan, the company’s CEO. After two years of development, the original MilestonePod dropped in mid-2014. The small pod featured a basic display and sat inside a silicon holder that weaved into the shoe’s laces. While the product worked and generated marketplace interest, Kaplan and his co-founders listened to customers and began sketching ways to make the product even more streamlined and user friendly. The modern-day MilestonePod In August 2016, a new iteration of the MilestonePod debuted alongside a fresh mobile app. Users connect the pod to their shoe, go for a run and then sync the pod to their smartphone via bluetooth. The mobile app communicates a range of data: time, pace and distance alongside calories burned, steps, foot strike (heel, mid or toe), cadence, ground contact time (milliseconds), rate of impact, stride length, leg swing (low, mid or high) and an all-encompassing Runficiency score designed to represent overall running efficiency. Priced at $29.95, the MilestonePod is a cost-effective entry into running metrics. It is an alternative or even a complement to GPS watches, offering a range of data not readily available elsewhere. “It’s a product as usable for the beginning runner as the advanced, tech-focused runner accustomed to wearing a GPS watch,” says Kaplan, who himself wears a GPS watch on over half of his runs. That’s the consumer side, Kaplan says, but remember that the © 2017 Formula4media LLC.

IN THE LONG RUN

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Making Headway (continued) product was also developed with the running retailer in mind. That is where the Milestone Sports’ team believes they can really make inroads and penetrate the marketplace. Through the Milestone Sports platform, retailers can sell a pod with any footwear purchase – one pod should be used with each pair of shoes, though pods can be reset and moved to a new pair. From there, the retailer can access aggregated Pod data, unveil campaigns and challenges, receive weekly coaches reports, generate automated special offers and deliver personal and timely messages to customers. For instance, retailers can schedule a notification for customers who reach 350 miles on a pair of shoes or whose rate of impact crosses a certain threshold. It’s an example of the futuristic part of wearable marketing that techies have been championing for years. Thus far, Kaplan reports, users presented a personalized message from a retailer on the Milestone platform have clicked on the redeem button more than 35 percent of the time. Retailers themselves, however, control that button’s content, which could lead to a designated landing page on the store’s website, a discount code, a video or a range of other communications. “This gives a retailer one-on-one engagement with customers and is an opportunity for retailers to take customer service outside their shop’s doors,” Kaplan says, adding that the Milestone platform is particularly ideal for stores without a marketing person or the time to devote to Google or Facebook advertising. A new way to engage customers Industry players have taken note of the company. In August, Milestone Sports launched a full white-label program – branded as the MyFit Pod – with the nearly 140-unit Athlete’s Foot chain in Australia. “They’re banking on wearable marketing and this data,” Kaplan says. “They believe connecting with customers after they leave their doors is the future.” Stateside, nearly half of Fleet Feet Sports 10

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Milestone Sports’ data provides interesting look into shoe life stores are selling the MilestonePod, which has emerged as the number two tech brand in units sold behind Garmin, according to Fleet Feet senior operations manager Matt Werder. While the product’s $30 price point encourages a trial from consumers and retailers alike, it’s the backend system that captured Fleet Feet’s attention. “When you can see what customers do with the footwear you sold them, there’s a lot of potential from training programs to personalized marketing messages,” Werder says. Numerous Fleet Feet stores continue experimenting with the product, particularly in conjunction with store training programs. Armed with the data of individuals who have opted into a store’s training program, whether virtual or in person, coaches can review a runner’s training and provide feedback or alter programs. This allows the running stores to move beyond footwear sales and become an advisor capable of helping runners improve their form and efficiency to stay healthy. “We’re still at the beginning stages here and figuring out how to best utilize the technology, but we do see the potential,” Werder says. At the minimum, Werder adds, the MilestonePod serves a low-cost, introductory product for those new to metric tracking. “It’s a great product solution we can turn to when customers ask about when they should replace their shoes or how they can track their running,” he says. As retailers increasingly recognize the power of personalization and automation to drive business, Kaplan says the run specialty channel is catching onto Milestone’s unique value proposition. After all, knowing how customers run and how shoes perform affords retailers an opportunity to build increased engagement and loyalty. “Units sold [of the MilestonePod] are increasing month over month and our trend lines are moving in the right direction, which shows that runners and retailers are seeing the value here,” Kaplan says. n

Running data on the Milestone dashboard.

ooking at the most recent 1 million miles of MilestonePod running data, Milestone Sports’ data analysts investigated rate of impact, a metric many consider an ideal indicator of shoe life as well as a key contributor to increased injury risk. On average, Milestone Sports’ data shows that rate of impact remains relatively flat from miles 1-150. Thereafter, rate of impact begins to climb, escalating at 300 miles and entering the “red zone” (high rate of impact) around 440 miles. Analyzing the top 80 shoe models that had at least 1,000 runs on them, the data shows a few specific models that go the extra mile. (A key caveat, of course, being that many other factors, running surface and an individual’s running gait among them, also contribute heavily to shoe life.) These 10 models (listed alphabetically) maintained a relatively flat rate of impact until 450 miles: • ASICS Cumulus

• Newton Gravity

• ASICS Kayano

• Newton Fate

• Brooks Glycerin

• Saucony Zalot ISO

• Hoka One One Clifton

• Saucony Freedom ISO

• Mizuno Wave Rider

• Saucony Guide

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STRATEGIZING RETAIL MAGIC.

e, as humans, are thrilled by the surprising twist: that rollercoaster ride with a hairpin turn that ruins our guts, a flailing, full court, three-point game-winner at the buzzer, a movie scene we watch between fingers, or even the random comments grandpa always quips at the dinner table. Enthralling or cringe-worthy, we love such things. And mostly because the unexpected is attractive. Take a magician, for example. We all know a rabbit cannot logically be pulled from an empty hat, but we still want to see it happen. And even though it’s a quality trick, the more we see it, the more ho-hum it becomes. A smart magician knows she can only count on the rabbit for so long. Eventually she needs to throw a wrench into the machine. Recapture the crowd’s imagination by yanking other things from the same hat. Like maybe a baseball bat, a bouquet of bougainvilleas, or an orange popsicle. Maybe even take a bite of it as the crowd roars with fresh applause. It’s not so much the trick they love, but the unexpected newness of it all. Retailers need to think like magicians. Strategize the next move before it’s necessary while knowing good and well that timing is everything. If they wait until the crowd begins to disperse before unveiling the orangcicle, it’s all over. They waited too doggone long. The savviest businesspeople change the status quo when it’s least expected. They don’t take their current success for granted or expect the gift to keep on giving. They’ve always got another card up their sleeve, and another one right behind that. Your most cunning colleagues know that a minor tweak is often all that’s needed to leave customers wanting more. Think back to the first time you saw a treadmill in a run shop. Can you recall when you first witnessed a store doing video gait analysis? That was bonkers, wasn’t it? Do such accoutrements still get you charged up as they did way back when. Heck no. Why not? Because you (and everyone else on the planet) have seen that rabbit trick done a million times over. Sure, it’s still a good trick. A necessary one, even. But it’s tired and pretty much played out.

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Picture your store. Think about the customer service experience you offer. Have you and your staffers been dishing out the same high-quality story for years? Have you been approaching, greeting, and thanking customers the same way since, like, forever? Putting folks through a tried and true shoe-fitting process since day one? If so, it’s high time for a revamp. Retailers ought to be in a constant state of reinvention. No stranger to tossing in an occasional tweak here and there. It needn’t be super major, just odd enough to turn customer’s head. But it better be something that will make even veteran customers take notice. If you’ve never really changed too much and customers are still coming through your doors, congratulations. But count your blessing and don’t bet the farm on this strategy working much longer. Our current landscape is ripe for innovation, and inventive shops with cutting-edge ideas are making the specialty world interesting again. For some this means incorporating new technologies, e-commerce, or altering how staff interact with customers (hint: they’re going back to the basics of human connection). Other stores are partnering with disparate businesses within a shared footprint; buy some running gear, grab an espresso (or a beer)! There’s no predicting who among them will come out ahead. But undoubtedly the twist is spicing things up and adding to their modern day relevance. Take risks. Bend the paradigm. Definitely do that thing you think might work even if nobody’s doing it yet. Execute an ankle-breaking head fake juke. Make people feel something again. The future of your store depends on it. Shoot, the future of the brick and mortar industry depends on it. Your ultimate potential is never evident in your present. The best you is the next iteration of you. So what’s up that sleeve of yours? I trust it won’t be another rabbit. n Tom Griffen is a former running store owner who now runs a retail training business. He will be speaking this year at The Running Event in Austin.

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Fleet Feet Preps for Chicago Marathon CELEBRATING RUNNING STARS

Above, left to right: Ryan Hall, Scott Jurek and Amy Hastings Cragg at Fleet Feet Chicago’s “Breaking Through the Wall” panel discussion.

By Jennifer Ernst Beaudry

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Photo: Christian Rasmussen Fleet Feet Sports

ave Zimmer thinks runners should be treated like superstars — and the Chicago Marathon is the perfect opportunity to show it. The owner of the seven Chicagoland Fleet Feet locations hosted and moderated “Breaking Through the Wall,” on Sept. 24. It was a panel discussion about nutrition, race day rituals and mental preparation for runners preparing to tackle the upcoming race. It was held — as panelists pointed out — at the exact time when runners should be beginning their taper and finalizing their race-day preparations. Speaking at the event were runners Ryan Hall, Amy Hastings Cragg and Scott Jurek, as well as race director Corey Pinkowski, functional medicine and nutrition specialist Dr. Alaina Gemelas and Fleet Feet partner Chicago Endurance Sports co-founder Mike Norman. The event is a good opportunity to fundraise (a portion of the $15 ticket price goes to Chicago’s Lurie Children’s Hospital) and for runners to get excited leading up to the race, Zimmer said. It was also a chance to celebrate some of the best athletes in the field. “Running doesn’t get its due to its superstars,” he said. Zimmer said Fleet Feet Chicago has been doing a version of this event since 2000, when the store started putting on a small presentation in its old store called, “How to Survive the Chicago Marathon.”

(They later decided, “Breaking Through the Wall” was a better, and less intimidating, name for the series.) And it’s not only a chance to fête celebrity runners and provide a service to both new and returning runners readying to tackle the race, he said: it’s a great branding opportunity. Some of the 290 attendees are potential new shoppers, he said (the event and autograph signing exits through the Old Town store, which is directly below the theater), and the shares on Facebook and other social media get the retailer on runners’ radars. “This event draws in people who have never even heard of us,” Zimmer said. It’s a busy time for the Fleet Feet Chicago franchises. In the past few months they’ve debuted a new line of “Run CHI” apparel celebrating the city, as well as Fleet Feet’s new Fit ID foot scanning process, and in December, will be moving their busy Old Town location to a 5800 square-feet location 125 yards north of the current location on Wells St.. In addition, Fleet Feet Chicago is the expo partner for 18 different brands — and Zimmer himself is not only a motivational speaker in demand in the race run up, but he’s the captain of Aid Station #7 at the 10-mile race marker, where he’ll oversee 275 volunteers. His kids, he said, will be working, too, largely at the Race Day Resort area the store runs in partnership with Chicago Endurance Sports, which offers gear check, bathrooms, a buffet and medal engraving, among others. “We’re flat out,” he said. n

AT THE RUNNING EVENT

Former Whole Foods CEO Heads TRE Speaker Line Up

Walter Robb, former co-CEO of Whole Foods, will be speaking at The Running Event in Austin.

Walter Robb “How to Create a Winning Culture in Your Store” Tuesday, November 28, 2017 1:00 pm-2:15 pm Austin Convention Center

CLICK TO REGISTER RETAILERS CAN REGISTER FOR TRE ONLINE

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our store is a leader in a hot category, then all of a sudden you have competitors who have the same concept and many of the same products you offer. On top of that, the Internet begins competing with you. Sound like the running business? It actually applies to the high-end grocery business. And the executive who was at the center of that retail channel as it went through those challenges will be one of the main speakers at The Running Event conference. Walter Robb, who was one of the early employees at Whole Foods and later became co-CEO with John Mackey, will talk about “How to Create a Winning Culture in Your Store” on Tuesday, November 28, 2017 from 1:00 p.m.-2:15 p.m. in the Austin Convention Center. Robb helped build the modern grocery chain into one of the most dynamic retailers in America, prior to its sale to Amazon earlier this year. Robb was born and raised on the East Coast and after college, he and his wife, Emily Wilkins, moved to Atlanta to teach high school to children in the city. They then moved to California to work in his wife’s family’s almond-growing businesses. Robb started a health food store when they moved to Trinity County called Mountain Marketplace. After running the store for ten years, he and his wife divorced and he moved with his children to the Bay Area to manage a small natural foods chain. His longtime friend, John Mackey, convinced him to come work with Whole Foods. Robb started working with the Whole Foods Market in 1991 in the Mill Valley, California store that he operated. He became president of the Northern Pacific Region in 1993, building the area from two to 17 stores. In 2000, he became the Executive Vice-President of Operations and then Chief Operating Officer in 2001. He became Co-President in 2004. In 2013, Robb was appointed as a director for The Container Store. He currently sits on The Whole Planet Foundation Board of Directors and The Board of Regents for The University of the Pacific. He serves as Chairman of the Board for the Whole Kids Foundation and on the Board of Directors for the Retail Industry Leaders Association. Robb is an ardent organic advocate; he works his own organic garden and has served on the Board of Directors of the Organic Trade Association and the Organic Center for Education and Promotion. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University in 1976 with a degree in history and was the soccer team captain at Stanford. Retailers can register for The Running Event at therunningevent.com/ registration.html n

T U C T SHOR NER’S N U R O T HIGH.

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Hurricane Relief: How the Industry Responded When natural disaster strikes, the running industry runs to help.

Lending a hand, and then some: Garrett Sage, Fleet Feet San Antonio and Russ Coillot, Fleet Feet Inc.; Mike Rouse, Run Texas and Tony Gougeon, FITniche.

n the wake of Hurricane Harvey, the running industry raced to help. Fleet Feet, Inc. coordinated A Shoes for Houston program that collected gently used athletic footwear and clothing from around the country. Shoes were shipped to Fleet Feet’s San Antonio store and then transported to Houston where store owner Danny Braden helped distribute them to folks in need. In the aftermath of the storm, Braden also jumped in a boat and helped rescue people who were trapped in high waters. Mike Rouse, who opened Run Texas in Frisco outside of Dallas last year, also coordinated a shoe drive that inspired a tremendous response and inspired one running store customer to drive a truckload of donated shoes from Florida to Texas. FITniche in Lakeland Florida replaced its annual Labor Day sale with a shoe and clothing drive for the victims of Hurricane Harvey. “FITniche’s customers had come through in a big way— too big a way, and each of our three stores now looked more like Salvation Army distribution centers than specialty running stores,” said store owner Rich Wills. Almost 70 large boxes-worth of shoes, clothes and other items were now piled around the sales floors. “Shipping to get them to TX was going to cost northwards of $4,500! Much more than FITniche had bargained for. More than FITniche could afford, frankly,” he added. That’s when Tony Gougeon, a customer and retired Special Operations NCO and participant in numerous Iraqi cross-country

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re-supply operations, came to the rescue. After overhearing a couple of the crew members lamenting the situation he immediately stepped forward and volunteered to drive the donated product the 1,100+ miles to Frisco, TX where Rouse and his Run Texas crew could take over and distribute the products to those in need in Houston. Gougeon set off with a U-Haul rented by FITniche along with reservations at a couple of unglamorous hotels along the route and a store credit card for gas and incidentals. The plan was to Fleet Feet, Inc. leave Thursday, deposit the coordinated A Shoes goods Saturday morning in for Houston program Frisco, return the truck in that collected gently Dallas and fly home later that used athletic footwear afternoon. and clothing from Then Hurricane Irma around the country. appeared off the coast of Florida with a projected direct hit on the state, and the plan began to frag. The initial four hours to get to I-10 became 9, as hundreds of thousands of Floridians clogged the roads north evacuating the state. Gougeon drove 14+ hours each day instead of the intended 9-11. Along the way he took additional time on the second day to turn around and go back to help a couple of young women with a broken-down car, walking with them to a nearby farm house where he borrowed a gas can © 2017 Formula4media LLC.

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Hurricane Relief (continued)

Fleet Feet’s team filled two 26-foot U-Hauls with socks and shoes in its Shoes For Houston effort.

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and paid for gas from the farmer and then gave the young women his remaining cash, so they could get enough gas at the next exit to make it rest of the way to their destination. Saturday morning Gougeon finally pulled in to Frisco, Texas and was greeted by an enthused and super-thankful Rouse at his Run Texas store. Rouse and his crew unloaded the truck and treated Tony to a hearty brunch next door. By this time, however, Hurricane Irma was knocking on Florida’s door, and Tony’s flight back to Tampa, FL was one of Tony Gougeon sacrificed over a week the last ones canceled. “That was a heartbreaking moment,” Wills said. of his personal time Gougeon ended up driving to Tennessee and and traveled 2,637 eventually coming back to Florida where Wills miles to make sure picked him up at the airport and took him to the goods donated by another hotel because his house in Florida had FITniche customers its power knocked out by Hurricane Irma. It was got to the good people another few hotel nights before Tony got to actually go back to his home with a FITniche of Houston, TX. Events generator. All in all, Tony Gougeon sacrificed over a week of his personal time and traveled 2,637 miles to make sure the goods donated by FITniche customers got to the good people of Houston, TX. “It was an epic journey and an epic sacrifice,” Wills said. “Thank you, to all who donated to this cause; thank you also to FITniche Wiregrass Crew Member Trish Trout who spearheaded this effort; and thank you, especially, to Tony Gougeon! You and your wife’s next pair of running shoes are on the house!” n

Running Shorts

The new Brooks Levitate is designed for the everyday runner, MSRP $150.

Brooks Gets Ready to Levitate

Breaking the 2 hour marathon? Nah — Brooks wants to motivate the average daily runner with its tech-heavy new shoe. The $150 Levitate, which released to select retailers across all channels on Sept. 30, features the brand’s new circular-knit Fit Knit upper and a new outsole pattern. It’s also the debut of DNA Amp, a springy new PU compound wrapped in a TPU skin developed with BASF that the brand says is its most responsive and energetic yet. “This shoe is not for the top 1 percent. It’s for our everyday runner who sometimes needs a little extra oomph to get out the door,” said Bennett Grimes, footwear product line manager for Seattle-based Brooks. “It’s extra motivation to get out the door or do one more loop on the track. It’s a really fun running experience.” Two colorways each for men and women released in September; a third will launch in January. And while initial distribution will be to limited doors across SRA, sporting goods and online, it will be released more broadly in Spring 2018.

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OS1st Hires New National Sales Manager

Sports medicine and compression bracing brand OS1st announced the appointment of Tommy Nason as National Sales Manager. Nason joins the company from Implus, where he served as the National Account Manager and was responsible for national key account management, new business development, sales growth, external sales team management and development and led the successful launch of the New Balance franchise accessory program. As National Sales Manager at OS1st, Nason will be responsible for the management of ING Source’s national sales team. He will work closely with the Sales and Marketing team to help develop and implement new short-term and long-term sales strategies to grow the OS1st brand to achieve profitability and success goals in national markets. Additionally, Nason will manage OS1st’s current national accounts, while seeking out new retail partners and opportunities within the brand’s key channels and markets.

Nathan Rolls Out ‘Run For The Stars’

Select run specialty shops across the U.S. will host safety and visibility nights and night-themed fun runs through the remainder of 2017 as part of Nathan’s Fall safety and visibility educational effort, Run For The Stars. The campaign is part of a year-round effort from the United Sports Brands’ company to promote growth in key running essential categories. Nathan provides participating retailers with turn-key educational and promotional materials for use in-store, online and at store-run events. These include educational posters, merchandising cards, social media images and suggested posts. The focus of campaign assets is to drive customers to local running stores so they may be further educated on how to develop an effective night running safety plan. “Our (Nathan) safety and visibility campaign will help retailers enrich the running experience for adventurous runners of all levels, and educate and equip them to safely navigate the night roads and trails,” says Tony Armand, CEO Of United Sports Brands. Nathan would like participating run shops to encourage customers to demo its new runners’ headlamp, the Neutron Fire RX, the classic Zephyr Fire 300 Runners’ Flashlight and a wide range of LED lights and reflective vests.

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tHe ruNNiNG eveNt 2017

tHe coNfereNce & trADe sHow for ruNNiNG retAilers

November 28- December 1, 2017 AustiN coNveNtioN ceNter The Running Event 2017 will bring together the entire running industry with engaging speakers, 4 days of networking, and over 250 exhibitors.

Exhibitor & Sponsorship Information: Troy Leonard: tleonard@formula4media.com / 352-624-1561