Small Shops or Big Chains? Choosing Where to Buy Your Running Gear

Most people don’t even think about the small running store in town when they go to buy running gear. In my opinion, those are the stores to go to. Oftentimes those stores only have a couple workers but they all have a vast amount of knowledge of the sport and can offer great advice about what gear to get. The big stores mostly just want to sell products, they don’t really care about the relationship with the customer and a lot of the workers there lack knowledge in the sport of running. I’ve found the smaller stores to be much friendlier and more helpful than the larger ones. The smaller stores can better answer my questions and sell me products that will truly benefit me but won’t sell me something that I don’t need. You won’t see that at a bigger store where they are more focused on the bottom line and want you to spend as much as possible on different types of gear. Another thing that the smaller stores do that the big ones don’t is they usually have a discount for student athletes. While it certainly isn’t the reason I go to the smaller stores, it is something that is really nice that the smaller stores do. Mainly though, I go because of the knowledge the owners and workers have and their desire to get me in the gear that I need to perform at the level I want to perform at. So, next time you go shopping for running gear, consider checking out the smaller stores in your area. Worst case, if you feel they don’t possess the knowledge and benefits, there is most likely a big chain store nearby that will have all the gear you need.