FORWARD TOGETHER The Running Event 2021 set the tone for a robust new year for run specialty.
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fter almost two years of virtual meetings, Zoom calls and socially distanced greetings, the run specialty business finally gathered in one place at The Running Event 2021, held Nov. 30-Dec. 2 at the Austin Convention Center in growing but still-weird Austin, TX. Celebrating its 15th anniversary in 2021, The Running Event provided run specialty retailers and their brands with the opportunity to chart a course to the future. One of the key messages that came out of TRE was that stores are going to take the lessons learned during the pandemic, adapt them to the new retail reality and move forward. Simply put, it was good to get together again. Now, if the industry can only get those supply chain issues figured out ... A Changed Industry The run specialty business is vastly different than it was the last time it met at The Running Event 2019. Terms that are common place today – curbside pickup, virtual fittings, PPP and, yes, Zoom – were unknown back in those simpler times. But now the running boom brought about by people finding the joys and relative safety of exercise during COVID-19 has allowed the industry to thrive headed into an optimistic new year. As Christina Henderson, TRE show 10
runninginsight.com
After two years of Zoom meetings and virtual sales calls, the run specialty industry was anxious to get together as The Running Event 2021 opened its exhibit doors on December 1.
director and publisher of Running Insight, puts it: “As we celebrate the 15th anniversary of The Running Event this year, we look forward to an even brighter future for the run specialty community that we serve.” The celebration kicked off with a keynote presentation by industry guru Parker Karnan, who said that while most projections call for 10-25 percent growth for run specialty in 2022, he definitely comes down on the higher side of the estimates. Price increases that will average eight percent will contribute to this topline growth, but the continuing running
boom – fueled by new runners who don’t necessarily consider themselves runners – will keep the momentum going well into the new year as the supply chain issues hopefully iron out by Q2. The ‘Non-Runner’ Runner The “I’m not a runner” customer was a recurrent theme throughout TRE, as most vendors focused new product development on the customer who took up running during the pandemic and plan to keep at it — not necessarily by running a marathon (or any race for that matter), but by maintaining their healthy “non-runner
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