It’s been a weird summer. I don’t know if it’s just me but I feel like this has been one of the stranger seasons and it’s caused us to change how we do things around here. Let me try to explain and as usual, my ramblings will most likely end up going somewhere.
Last month a running shop a half an hour away from us closed its doors. While they were not close in proximity, they were still technically our competition. I had known the owner of a charity race I put on and he always seemed like a very nice guy so I was sorry to hear he was closing. I went up on his last day to wish him well and try to get a sense of what he felt happened over the past few years to his business. A lot of what he felt was interfering with his growth were things that we deal with here. I left feeling pretty darn freaked out and I vowed that I would not let us fall into the same pitfalls.
Since then we’ve have been out and about in the community pretty much weekly. This week I was in Mt Airy, the week before Hanover, and before that Gettysburg. We have been really trying to get out and say hello to fellow runners and make sure everyone knows that there is a place in Westminster that is a friend to all runners. Just because stores like Dick’s are much larger than ours, current shoe models cost the same as dictated by the manufacturer. But, with us, you get a shoe recommendation based on injury history, goals, gait and the other pieces of information that we try to take into consideration when helping you choose a shoe.
We recently have had a few people that have stopped in and asked us to give them our help and have had us record them walking, running, and suggest shoes only to pull their phone out and go online to shop for older models on discount in front of us. It truly is a changing landscape and I could not imagine going into a small business and treating people that way. It would be like going to a restaurant and asking what the special was for the night, the recipe, directions on how to prepare it from the chef and then going home and trying to mimic it using ingredients from McDonald’s. I just don’t think I could ever do it to a small business. When we sell a pair of shoes for $120 I think people think we made $120 on the sale. Unfortunately, the jerks that manufacture them want a lot of that. In fact, they want most of that $120.
I feel that what sets us apart is the service and knowledge. It’s always touching when people take the time to review us and give us feedback on their progress after we work with them. It feels like too often in life people want to go online when they have a bad experience somewhere and voice their feelings. We are fortunate enough to have a tremendously positive rating on all social media and review platforms. We don’t take that for granted and if anything, we want to continue to improve on it.
So, to my point – we want your vote. We try so hard here to differentiate ourselves from big box stores out there and if you appreciate the time and energy we give to our customers, please take a minute and vote for us for Best Shoe Store and Best Sporting Goods Store in Carroll County. We won Best Shoe Store last year and finished just behind a major chain store for Best Sporting Goods Store. We want to win both this year. “Shop Local” is not a phrase we take lightly here and I really try my best to buy from one of my neighboring business as much as I can. In fact, last year I can almost guarantee Run Moore donated more to local charities than the box stores in the area that are 10X our size. We give back as much as we can to the community that supports us. Now I want your help to win an award that has no prize other than bragging rights. It’s also more proof that as larger chains continue to expand their reach in smaller communities that at the root of every good business is good customer service and even better knowledge and that we can go toe to toe with the big guy. Thank you for your support!
Click HERE to vote for Run Moore!
