If the Shoe Fits

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Sacramento’s Fleet Feet has established itself as an educational center and makeshift runners’ hub, holding weekly group walk/runs, free monthly seminars and long-term race-training programs. Dusty Robinson, Fleet Feet’s marketing director, also serves as head coach of the store’s explosively popular training teams.

Personable and excited about fitness, Robinson holds a master’s degree in exercise science. The training groups aren’t a major source of revenue for Fleet Feet. They charge a small fee, don’t lose money and sometimes make a little if the turnout is sizable. Many participants have no running or exercise-walking background, so Robinson focuses on clear instructions. There is usually an end goal of an official run or a run-walk, but trainees aren’t required to participate in the final race. “The best part is that we get to see people feel better about themselves,” says Jan. Additionally, the community outreach ultimately drives sales.

No Boundaries is Fleet Feet’s most recent training project. It’s also the most ambitious. When complete in 2008, it will be the first-ever national training program of its kind. The pilot program takes place this fall, concluding on Oct. 21 with a new race dubbed the Prosper Corporate Cup (sponsored by this magazine’s parent company).

The idea, this time, is to promote workplace fitness. Businesses enter as teams. Robinson and the Sweeneys hope the race will eventually foster mini-challenges within certain business spheres; for example, media companies, law firms, or real-estate firms would race primarily against rivals in their respective fields. “The one award I want to give,” says Pat, “is for the fastest CEO in town.” (Fleet Feet has a training kit for the race, so if you want to join, call the store to learn how to get prepared.)

Not riding blindly on success, the Sweeneys know they have to find new ways to keep consumers away from the superstores and the internet retail sites. “In the ’70s, mail order was going to put all of the running stores out of business. (But) it didn’t. The internet is the newest version of that,” says Pat. “You can’t touch and feel a shoe at Zappos.com.”

STAYING IN THE RACE

To compete, Fleet Feet offers a variety of incentives. If a customer spends more than $80, purchases are shipped for free. This is especially appealing to runners who wear only one shoe model and may consider buying a second or third pair from some other online retailer. If Fleet Feet ships duplicate pairs for free, consumers may be more inclined to buy from the store because they save money and support a local business. Also, a new program returns 10 percent of purchases to the customer in the form of in-store credit.

Customers are 60 percent women and 40 percent men, and the owners project an eventual customer base of 70 percent women as their new women’s store, Fleet Feet Outdoor, grows in popularity. Located in an adjacent storefront, the year-old addition was a result of mounting demand for women’s fitness/lifestyle clothing. “Our customers were telling us that their favorite stores were REI, Lucy and the Title Nine catalog, and that if we carried (similar items) they would buy from us, too,” says Pat.

While they’ve found success and remarkable sales growth in the fitness industry, the Sweeneys say aspiring business owners must be “prepared to work hard, work smart, be fearless and financed.” Fleet Feet Sacramento spends less than 2 percent of revenue on advertising, a minuscule amount when compared with other businesses in the industry. Its grassroots approach is to grow a network of satisfied, getting-in-shape customers who want to refer their friends.

“I used to be afraid of competition,” says Pat. “But at the end of the day we can only control what we do, and we know we’re going to outwork (the bigger places). You’ve got to do what you love to be happy in the long run. No pun intended.”

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