Ok, we're moving. And here's the scoop.

Ok, so we’re moving. During the first week of June. Lets get that out there.

The most often asked question is, “Why?” And I’ve given the answer so often verbally that I thought it was worth putting into the blog as well.

Back in 2000, when Ron and Rhonda Jacobs opened this particular business as an extension of the Fleet Feet franchise that they owned in Santa Rosa, I doubt that they would have ever been able to imagine the next 10 years and what a different landscape they would have been in.

When I purchased the business in 2005, I had the idea to finally be able to make a running store that would be able to not just sell shoes but actually solve problems for people, that they could rely on to help settle aching knees and feet. Ask anyone in retail sales; I’m sure that you know someone. It is, quite bluntly, not the most rewarding job for most people. The register goes beep, they swipe a card, and mumble at the person. Repeat. Ad Nauseum. But then there are jobs where you get actually help people, where people come in and tell you that they just jogged for 25 minutes for the first time and their back doesn’t hurt, or that their kid just finished his first cross country season at Brookside and got a trophy and he’s incredibly psyched. Yes, there are plenty of times to pull a size 8.5 for someone and send them on their way, but it is the helping that you go home and talk about.

Being able to carry the very best shoes that I can find, regardless of logo, bringing in the slow motion video gait analysis system to analyze people on a 25 frames a minute loop, focusing on minimalist/barefoot running after doing it myself for almost 27 years: these are all tools that I enjoy being able to use to actually help people. Fleet Feet used to have an 80/20 rule: that 80% of the people who walked through your door would be covered by only 20% of your models. So carrying the outlying shoes, the shoes that wouldn’t work for most people, was, in essence, a bit of a waste of money. Surely all you would want to do was focus on ordering a ton of the same model. In an area as diverse as Marin, where the trails and roads combine to a potent mix of training surfaces, your 80/20 was already out the window. Mix in the current desire for many people to experiment with something other than what conventional wisdom has told them they need as “support” and you’ve opened up yet another kettle of fish.

Moving just across the street to the space currently occupied by Jump ‘N Bounce, and most memorably occupied by Noodle Soup in years past will allow me to change things up a bit: continue to bring all sorts of amazing new shoes, both robust and lean for people. We’ll be on the sunny side of the street, with a view of Mt. Tam’s peak if you lean out the window just right. Many is the time we’ll get to peer out at that and plan a long run up Eldritch Trail to the summit from the north side. And, with the new Coffee Roasters just across the street, we’ll be able to caffeinate properly before and after our runs. It’ll be the chance to re-engage with Marin’s running and wanting-to-run/be fit community. We have great plans for beginning runs on Saturday mornings, an evening pub run that will allow us to combine those two great tastes: a trail run and beer. And we even have plans for some great prizes to give away when you visit our new location!