Essential 4 Success

At TC Running Company in Minnesota’s Twin Cities, general manager Kurt Decker considers the essentials category, well, essential to the success of the five-store operation. From energy gels to injury prevention products, sunglasses to safety, these essential accessories significantly contribute to the bottom-line performance of TC Running.

“With accessories, it’s easy to overlook how much you’re selling until you stop and look at the numbers,” Decker says. “Eight dollars here and $10 there, when you get a lot of these in the day, it adds up.”

Yet more, the presence of various essentials makes TC Running a destination for anyone on the move and spotlights different products that can make a run more enjoyable or help individuals lead healthier lives.

“All the different categories make the whole picture come together for runners,” Decker says.

Running Insight highlights four prominent essentials categories and asks a standout running store what they do to excel in the category.

Recovery And Injury Prevention

Fleet Feet PNW, a collection of six running stores in Washington state, sells an assortment of recovery and injury prevention tools from the likes of Roll Recovery and TriggerPoint, including rollers, percussion devices and massage balls.

Listen and suggest. Fleet Feet PNW co-owner Wade Pannell prioritizes staff training on injury prevention and treatment at his stores and also encourages active listening on the sales floor. By asking questions and listening intently, staff can learn of different physical ailments a customer is facing and then use their training to suggest relevant solutions.

“We have staff who are confident in recognizing pain points and suggesting products capable of helping customers and that’s absolutely paramount to selling this category.”

Facilitate a “test drive.” Fleet Feet PNW places demo products such as massage balls or percussion devices near its foot stools. The mere presence of the items prompts frequent questions and invites customers to trial products themselves, which Pannell considers key to fueling sales.

“It’s like test driving a car. We can’t just talk about a product, but need to let customers experience the benefit themselves so they are more likely to make the purchase.”

Nutrition

Boosted by a hefty array of products from Tailwind, Skratch Labs, Maurten, Nuun, Gu and UCAN, Decker calls nutrition a “darn good” category for TC Running and one that drives the five-store chain’s overall performance.

Options A, B, C and D. Recognizing there is no one-size-fits-all approach to nutrition and that an individual’s taste or tolerance for a specific item can shift over time, Decker says TC Running carries a diverse and varied assortment of nutrition items to offer its customers. “No one wants to search here and there, so we offer a lot of options.”

Personal experience. Decker encourages staff members, a number of whom are active marathoners and ultrarunners, to leverage their personal experience and insights when discussing nutrition products with customers. “It’s important we can speak to differences in tastes and textures.”