Those who have worked in a running store...

"This Nimbus has more arch support than the Glycerin!"

"Are New Balance the only shoes made in America?"

"Hi, can get fitted for shoes, I had some that worked so well before"

"Ok I'll fit you, do you happen to know what kind of shoes you had before that worked so well?"

"Umm, Nike Air (or Asics Gel or "Nikes, they had that little guy in them"

"What's the difference between Saucony and New Balance?"

"Do you have Skechers?"

"Volleyball practice starts next week, I need new shoes."

I really like it when people take the shoe, put it on, and just yank the laces to tie the shoe. They then walk around and complain that the shoe is loose and sloppy...Duh, if you actually tightened each set of eyelets then tied the shoe maybe it would feel more form fitting and comfortable.

Clearly monied older guy with a trophy wife at least 20 years younger comes in and plops himself down on the bench. I greet him and ask what he needs. He says, and I quote, "Give me some service and you might get a sale out of this." Trophy wife giggles. I say, "Show some respect and you might get some service," and walk away. The manager overheard the exchange and, when the guy complained, completely stonefaced him until he left.

BRC2005 wrote:

My favorite: Bewildered non-runner customer comes in the store and asks, "I heard that you all do this thing, like some kind of process, to help determine which shoe is best, like with the treadmill and some type of examination...?"

"Yes ma'am, we fit customers for shoes."

Well, good for you. Many of your colleagues in other "running stores" don't do this at all, or barely do this. And yes, I mean real running stores but am not going to call out specific small businesses here when it's the employees' fault.

This is a problem with inconsistency in basic standards of service in your industry, not the customer.

ex worker wrote:

He says, and I quote, "Give me some service and you might get a sale out of this." Trophy wife giggles. I say, "Show some respect and you might get some service," and walk away.

BEE. ESS. You helped him out, thought of this later, and wish it had happened. Don't worry.

Lol wrote:

We actually had a whiteboard up for a while in the back of all the funny mispronunciations of shoe companies. Some of my favorites included "Brooks Brothers" "Sauce-ony" "Oasics" "Azics" and many others which I can't remember.

Haha, I had the Brooks Brothers comment a couple of times.

I hated when a doctor would recommend a motion control shoe for a large woman and I would bring all of our motion control shoes out. After trying all of them on, they would talk about how horrible they felt and how ugly they were, but then see a pink racing flat on the wall, ask to try it on, and then say that it felt the best. After a couple of times explaining that it was not the best for their foot type, they would insist it was the best for them. 6 days later...they would be back in the store, complaining that the shoes hurt their feet. Happened at least 5 times...

caller of BS wrote:

ex worker wrote:

He says, and I quote, "Give me some service and you might get a sale out of this." Trophy wife giggles. I say, "Show some respect and you might get some service," and walk away.

BEE. ESS. You helped him out, thought of this later, and wish it had happened. Don't worry.

Seriously. Did you actually expect anyone to believe this? There is zero chance you work at a profitable running store and that this actually happened.

the slightly overweight, middle-aged tri guys are some of the worst. they come in to brag about how the ironman makes them a superhuman because running a marathon just wasn't hard enough-and 5ks and 10ks are just for wussies. then they try on all the racing flats because they are going minimal and are interested in vibrams and barefoot running. then they quizz you on the pose method, chi running and ask "have you read the book born to run" (which I actually have). then they say: "now you look like you might be a runner?" they spend an hour in the store and don't buy anything, but take up all your time and energy talking about their feats of endurance and asking rhetorical questions.

on a side note: do any of you guys get paid on commission? I'd assume most get paid around $10/hr?

overthebill wrote:

the slightly overweight, middle-aged tri guys are some of the worst. they come in to brag about how the ironman makes them a superhuman because running a marathon just wasn't hard enough-and 5ks and 10ks are just for wussies. then they try on all the racing flats because they are going minimal and are interested in vibrams and barefoot running. then they quizz you on the pose method, chi running and ask "have you read the book born to run" (which I actually have). then they say: "now you look like you might be a runner?" they spend an hour in the store and don't buy anything, but take up all your time and energy talking about their feats of endurance and asking rhetorical questions.

on a side note: do any of you guys get paid on commission? I'd assume most get paid around $10/hr?

Never got paid on commission. Made around $8.50 an hour. This was a couple of years ago. I would have sold a lot more if I had a little incentive to. When you are the only one working the store and you sell 20 pairs of shoes in a 6 hour window, it would have been nice for the boss to throw a small bonus of $20 on my paycheck for making him $700 in pure profit for the day.

I want to know how to get into this business! This thread makes my day. And part of my yesterday, because I read some then, too.

It's certainly not a crime to gather amongst others who share your profession (especially one that deals with the public) and share stories. I work in a restaurant and I would venture anyone else who has could make their own 7 page thread about ridiculous sh*t people say, do, don't do, ask for, demand, request, complain about, or just generally f*ck up your day over. All that being said, I still REALLY want to work in a running store.

fun to be on both sides...as a kid who worked in a running shop we would play bingo....have cards the referenced certain incorrect brand names/races/ie. the 10k "marathon" and the winner would get lunch...

nowadays...I like finding the kid who likes saying how great he is and telling me all about his exploits, but of course he never races or always has some excuse...and who at 20 years of age actually knows something about fitting a shoe properly and even though I know what I want when I walk in there and will walk out with it..let him take all the time he wants to close the sale...by not listening he just cost himself 20-30 minutes and whatever spiff he was trying to get from a rep since I'm pretty much a Nike Pegasus guy...

Will these shoes make me run faster?

I need something with a lot of shock absorption that's also really firm, do you have that?

Do you have the adidas supernovas or saucony grids?

I went on my first run in 4 years right after I bought these shoes and now my calves hurt. Doesn't that mean something is wrong with the shoe?

"I need a really good, comfortable pair of walking shoes with really good cushioning and arch support for my high arches."

"I do a lot of walking, about 10 miles a week."

Oh my we all almost forgot the most obvious one

"I need a new pair of Tennis shoes."

The only funny part is when they actually need a new pair of shoes for tennis. Or the customers who ask for cross trainers for gym use, i.e. treadmill and other machines.

I find it hard to believe you were selling 20 pairs of shoes every 6 hours every day, maybe once in a while during busy seasons. And that $700 pure profit gets smaller when you start taking cost of running a business out. And why would you need an incentive to do the job that you where getting paid to do? On slow days when boss didn't make a profit did you give back $20 of pay?

My personal favorite was the following exchange

Woman "What is your favorite water belt"

Me "I don't personally have a favorite because I don't use them, however the follwing models are very popular"

Woman "You don't wear a fuel belt on your runs?!?!?!"

Me "Nope"

Woman "What about long runs, like 10 miles?"

Now, I commend this woman, especially if she was doing 10 mile runs for her long run as she was clearly new to the sport and at least 45 or so, it was still funny though.

?????????? wrote:

I find it hard to believe you were selling 20 pairs of shoes every 6 hours every day, maybe once in a while during busy seasons. And that $700 pure profit gets smaller when you start taking cost of running a business out. And why would you need an incentive to do the job that you where getting paid to do? On slow days when boss didn't make a profit did you give back $20 of pay?

not hard to believe at all. running shoes are big business in this country now...they are an inferior good. 20 pairs for a 6 hour shift seems pretty average. at retail price of around $100 a pair, and a profit of around $50 a pair (for the boss/owner) you are looking at 20(50)= $1000. Now take out that worker's wages $60 (at $10/hr)...some have commented on getting less which is basically minimum wage at this measly level. So $1000-60= $940. Now take out utilities, and other overhead costs associated with the business (maybe $200 for that 6 hour shift tops?) and you are looking at 940-200= $740 of pure profit. Not bad at all! And you think that getting a 2-4% commission on every sale is not going to be much of an incentive to the worker who is paid by the hour? well think again. this business is about selling volume, much like fast-food. If I worker wants to "make a sale" (which it should be only said like that if they are getting commission) then they are going to be getting the customer a pair of shoes as soon as possible and derive satisfaction from the benefits of making an extra $2-4 an hour. They will work harder, and be more entitled to earning the boss/owner a greater profit.