Whirlaway Sports

AFTER COMPLETING HIS COLLEGIATE CAREER at Southern Illinois University in 1983, Dave Kazanjian returned to his hometown of Methuen, MA, and the family business – a golf driving range and pro shop –with a grand plan to peddle running gear. His brother, Harold, custom built a shoe wall for running footwear inside the golf shop. His brother, Mark, meanwhile, leveraged existing relationships with Etonic and Brooks from the golf side to help Kazanjian build his inventory of running footwear.

Kazanjian’s “Try ‘em before you buy ‘em” appeal paired with his running knowledge and unapologetic enthusiasm generated early momentum for Whirlaway Sports. Toss in a “never be satisfied” attitude, a few daring choices and a sound management team led by Maggi Murray, Adriana Birleanu and Ryan Kowal, all of whom have been with Whirlaway at least 18 years, and you end up with a multi-time Best Running Stores in America honoree carrying more than 1000 footwear SKUs for running, wrestling, field and court sports.

“We’ve never stopped thinking about how we could take things to the next level,” Kazanjian says.