The sixth store opened at Sawgrass Mills Mall in Sunrise, joining locations in Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Aventura, Coral Springs and Weston. In January, Runner’s Depot’s store in Coral Springs moved to a larger spot spanning over 3,000 square feet, following the expansion of its Davie flagship to 5,000 square feet. Among the chain’s signature events are its upcoming 14th 12 Miles of Christmas training run set for Christmas Eve and the mid-November Rockin’ Rib Run 10K that promises unlimited baby back ribs for finishers.

Runstyle talked to Runner’s Depot founder Renee Grant about the store’s beginnings, what makes Runner’s Depot unique, its recent expansion, and South Florida’s running community.

Runstyle: Can you tell us about Runner’s Depot’s start? Did you always see yourself owning a running store?

Renee Grant: “It was never a thought that I would someday be in retail or own any type of store. I wasn’t even a runner in high school or college. I majored in Business/Finance in college and worked in banking after graduation. A few years after getting married, my husband and I started our own printing business. Eighteen years later, after a divorce, I went out on my own and bought a friend’s dance store. When I discovered I didn’t have a passion for dance but had started running and loved it, I converted my store into a running specialty store. That was 24 years ago.”

Can you talk about those early years? Was it a struggle getting started?

“The early years were very exciting for me. I worked in the store every hour we were open and on the weekends. I attended every morning race passing out flyers about my store. I started running myself and training for marathons. I have run 11 (five of them Boston). I was just obsessed with everything running. Retail also came pretty easy to me but there was a learning curve.”

What is one key lesson you’ve learned?

“One of the biggest was to stay true to running and not venture too far into horizontal markets like tennis or cross training, etc.”

Are Florida runners a different breed?

“Florida runners are tough, constantly dealing with the heat and humidity. Starting at 5 a.m. to avoid the sun doesn’t even help much when the humidity is already 90%. We have a very diverse running community here and it’s wonderful. There are so many different cultures which add to the social benefits of running. South Florida has a huge Latin community, and they bring a lot of energy to our sport.”

What’s your advice on handling heat and humidity?

“We all deal with heat and humidity, but Florida never gets cool mornings. We recommend a lot of electrolytes (Salis and LMNT are big sellers here), hydrate all day long, light colored clothing, and always a hat and sunglasses if running in the daylight.”

What’s your philosophy around buying?

“We focus on sales history as well as new trends. It’s important to have a deep selection of color these days in the most popular shoes and apparel. We rely heavily on our sales numbers for this. But we also keep a close watch on new brands. We partnered with Currex (now Foundation Wellness) when they first came on the scene and now they are one of our most important brands and a great partner. Recently, we brought in Long Run Coffee, Salis and LMNT which are becoming popular nutrition items in our stores.”

What are your biggest sellers on the footwear side?

“Our top shoe brands are Hoka, Brooks and On. Nike is making a very strong comeback with us with some of the best footwear they’ve ever made currently available.”

Is apparel a growing part of your business? What brands stand out there?

“We do sell a lot more apparel than we did a decade ago. Vuori is very strong in all our stores, and we do well with On apparel in the tourist stores. Nike apparel does well also. I like to keep this category fresh with new emerging brands that customers can’t find easily. We brought in Chicknlegs when they first arrived on the market, advertising mostly to high school runners. This brand still does very well at our stores and has broadened their appeal to all ages, men and women.”

What’s unique about the way Run Depot’s stores are merchandised?

“We merchandise our stores to make customers feel welcome and not overwhelmed or intimidated when they first walk in. There is a lot of open space between the front door and the shoe wall giving customers a chance to take everything in before being confronted by a ton of different products. We want to eliminate confusion and keep it simple and welcoming. We also merchandise products together, i.e. shoes, apparel and accessories, that work well together.”

Do all the stores attract similar customers? Do you stock them uniformly or differently based on the customer base?

“Florida is a big tourist location, especially for South Americans. Our Aventura and Sawgrass stores get a lot of tourist traffic. We still serve the local residents at these locations also. Tourists are often looking for the ‘hot’ brands, so we do a lot of Hoka and On business in those stores.”

What do you emphasize with your store teams?

“Our staff is taught to welcome each customer who enters our store and make eye contact, but to give them a minute to decompress and not bombard them with questions. With that said, many customers come in ready to be helped and fit with shoes and we are on it.”

How important is community engagement for Runner’s Depot?

“I believe that you constantly have to engage the running community. We hold several annual races and events that folks look forward to such as our 12 Miles of Christmas training run every Christmas Eve morning from our flagship store. This is a charity run where we collect toys (over 1,000 last year) for Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital. Our Run Through Central Park 5K raises funds for Concerns of Police Survivors and our Fire Hero 5K raises funds for the National Fallen Firefighter’s Foundation. These events have more than doubled in participant size since their inception. We also hold the fastest 10K in Florida — the Flanigan’s Rockin’ Rib Run 10K — which sells out at 3,000 runners. We bring in elite athletes from all over the world. Our top nine runners last year broke 29 minutes. This event also donates over $40,000 each year to the Hope Mission. All of our events give back to the community and keep the runners engaged. I believe it is important to always be growing the running community. South Florida is very transient and new runners are always looking for a running family, which we provide.”

What’s your philosophy around hiring and onboarding talent?

“Always be hiring and always be training. We have many great associates and managers who have been with us a long time, but we also have college students and part-timers so it’s important to keep hiring. The transient nature of Florida also impacts this area of the business. Training is something that is ongoing. We should all never stop learning. This is equally true for myself and our team leaders.”

What factors impacted your decision to open your new stores and expand existing stores?

“I believe you have to be as convenient as possible for the customer now more than ever. Customers have tons of options to choose from when making a purchase. A larger, more open and welcoming store that is conveniently located is a must for today’s consumer.”

Are you looking to add even more stores?

“I am always looking at locations for additional stores but don’t have any set goals or numbers. If a good opportunity presents itself, I will definitely pursue it.”

Runner’s Depot offers schedule appointments. What’s inspired that?

“During the pandemic, we started scheduled fitting appointments for clients. It was so popular, we have kept it in practice and continue to get many weekly appointments in all our stores.”

How important is the online business for Runner’s Depot?

“Our main e-commerce goal is to accommodate customers who either prefer to shop this way, are looking for a replacement product they already have, or just need something quick. We are giving them the option to still shop local but the way they choose. Our online store was recently updated with Run Free Project. They have been great to work with. We also offer free shipping and same-day delivery in our local area.”

Is the industry in a better state than when you opened your first store 24 years ago?

“The running industry is better in many ways but also more challenging. When I opened my first store in September of 2000, we were the only ones providing this type of service in our area. It was new and very unique. Shoes only came in one color — usually shoe blue — and our customers were very focused on fit and function which we provided for them. Now there is a huge focus on fashion and color. There are way too many options which confuse many customers. We try to keep them focused on getting the best shoe for their foot type, but they still want the best-looking shoe. You have to serve both of these needs. Housing a larger inventory is a must in today’s industry.”

Do you see a solution to there being so many footwear colors out there?

“There isn’t much strategy with color if a customer really wants something, but we teach our sales staff to try to get a second and third color option when we need to order a shoe.”

Are today’s runners much different than those in Runner’s Depot’s early days?

“The new generation of runners in our area are wonderful! We have more run clubs popping up in our tri-county area than ever. There is a friendly environment to grow the running community and bringing together groups of runners that are very diverse in every way… gender, ethnicity, running pace, etc. Folks may be joining these groups for social reasons and only running two to four miles, but through this introduction, many are finding the love of running and the desire to challenge themselves by entering races. Participation in events is definitely growing.”

What are some of the biggest challenges you see facing the industry?

“The industry is definitely more challenging than ever. Running specialty retailers are spending more to acquire and keep customers. Rents are higher than ever as are wages and we don’t have the option of downsizing to a smaller location with less square footage to save expenses. We need the space for the larger inventory we now have to carry. We also can’t sell our products above MSRP, like the restaurants have raised their menu prices to offset higher costs. Everyone knows what the price of a Hoka Bondi is.”

What are your best vendors doing that you wish they all would do?

“Our best vendor partners are giving us DTC codes to get a shoe when it’s not available on B2B. They are also helping us with margins by lowering our wholesale cost when a shoe is marked down.”