Athletic Annex

AFTER MEETING AT THE 1980 New York City Marathon, a pair of Indianapolis runners, attorney Bob Weddle and marketing manager Nelson Steele, became running buddies bantering about the idea of opening a running store on Indianapolis’s North Side.

After one post-run breakfast at IHOP, Weddle and Steele decided to turn talk into action despite the fact neither had any retail experience. The partners purchased an Athletic Annex franchise, signed a lease for a retail space on the corner of 86th and Ditch and welcomed their first customers in September 1983.

While the original franchisor floundered and soon declared bankruptcy, Weddle secured the rights to the Athletic Annex name and the Indianapolis running store survived, though not without turmoil. Amid mounting invoices, dwindling inventory and friction with their full-time jobs, Weddle and Steele convinced runner-turned-Athlete’s Foot manager Thom Burleson to join Athletic Annex in 1985 as a co-owner. The group then raised capital to cover outstanding bills and operational expenses by selling shares of the company to a few friends.

Burleson’s presence and more stable financial footing pushed Athletic Annex to a run of annual sales and profit increases. Over the next 14 years, the store expanded three times.

In 2014, former Olympian Bob Kennedy, owner of the multilocation BlueMile running store also based in Indianapolis, joined Athletic Annex to drive its continued growth.

“Buckle Up … we’re going to hit the gas pedal hard!” Kennedy told the Athletic Annex team, which would come to include his BlueMile colleagues Justin Porter and Gareth Wilford following the 2019 retirements of Weddle and Burleson.

Athletic Annex relocated its flagship Indianapolis location in 2019 to Nora Plaza, a move that sparked an immediate 30 percent jump in revenue. The company has since added two additional locations: Fishers (2021) and Carmel (2023).