With twenty-nine lines of performance running footwear at the 2012 Running Event, how does a run specialty store decide? The Running Network tracks 45-48 different brands at this time.
Run Specialty puts on the wall, as one of the great Garys told me, “what pays the bills”.
They have to focus on the product that the consumer wants. New shoes, that is the toughest place to be, as run specialty is the top of the running footwear food chain.
The consumer at run specialty influences the other ninety percent. They are looking for the best shoe that they can get, price is about sixth on their list. Service is key.
How does a brand such as Ecco, which has made high quality shoes for fifty years, and has been in running for about five years, reach out to run specialty?
That was the main question that the Shoe Addicts were asking Ecco’s Eric Walcott.
Here was his very thoughtful answer: