As the temperatures cool and the number of local races rise, more and more Westchester runners and walkers are stepping into the county”™s running stores to get their training gear before hitting the trails.
The gradual switch from a sedentary to active lifestyle that has swept the U.S. in the past two decades, according to statistics, has meant an influx in the need for apparel and other running gear, especially in the fall, the peak racing season in the Northeast.
Unlike most other sports, running has stores dedicated solely to it without other gear sharing the space. Some, like Westchester Road Runner in White Plains and Run on Hudson Valley in Croton-on-Hudson, are independently owned and operated, while Bronxville Running Company and Rye Running Company maintain a small-business feel but are owned by The Running Specialty Group, a subsidiary of Indianapolis-based The Finish Line Inc.
“Big box” retailers like Modell”™s and Dick”™s Sporting Goods may sell the same products, Westchester Road Runner owner Andy Kimerling said, but they do not have employees of the same expertise.
“The difference is everyone here actually uses the product they sell,” he said. “We”™re all runners.”
- Andy Kimerling’s store, Westchester Road Runner, has been in place 35 years and is a hub for the county’s growing running culture.
Kimerling operates the county”™s oldest running shop, which has occupied its space at 179 E. Post Road for 35 years. Lining the inside of his shop are running shirts, shorts, reflective vests, watches, shoelaces and more than 400 pairs of sneakers. As he”™s watched the sport”™s popularity rise he”™s seen his customer base evolve to include a growing segment of women who sign up for area races benefitting local charities.
“It used to be mainly men coming in here,” Kimerling said. “But in the past 10 to 15 years, the women”™s running market has seen the biggest growth. Women are getting more active. People want to say they”™ve run a marathon to check it off their bucket list.”
The store sponsors several events throughout the year, including the Rocky”™s 5K race Oct. 24 in Sleepy Hollow and the Lindsey Run/Walk on Oct. 25 on the SUNY Purchase campus.
Race participants were asked to pick up their race packets in the days leading up to the race at Westchester Road Runner and were offered an in-store discount on purchases.
On a recent Friday afternoon, Scarsdale resident Graham Broyd visited Westchester Road Runner to upgrade his training sneakers. He”™s been coming to the White Plains store for 15 years and said he receives a level of service he wouldn”™t be able to get at a big box store.
“If it”™s made for running and it”™s a good product, they”™ve got it here,” he said. “It”™s the best runners”™ support store in the Westchester area.”
While Broyd has been an avid runner for quite a while, it”™s the sport”™s newcomers helping to make the specialty shops thrive.
In its 2015 state of the sport report, Los Angeles-based nonprofit Running USA said 10.7 million women finished running events last year, accounting for 57 percent of the 18.8 million runners who participated in 2014. The sport, according to the organization, saw a 300 percent increase in event finishers between 1990 and 2013, and half of finishers in 2014 races were between 25 and 44 years old.
Ben Drew, owner of Run on Hudson Valley, opened the Croton shop in July 2014 after working in Manhattan for the Bank of New York. A runner of nine years who has finished eight marathons himself, Drew said the transition to becoming a small-business owner has been made easier by the influx of new runners as well as high school cross country runners, whose season runs from late summer through November.
August, he said, is the busiest month, and business remains at its peak during September, October and early November. Shoes, not surprisingly, are his store”™s core seller.
“Typically, it”™s the middle-aged new runner we see most,” Drew said. “Someone who is getting healthy and trying to lose a little bit of weight. They”™re coming in and may need a little helping just getting into it. That”™s where we can help.”
Though Westchester Road Runner may be his main competition, Drew said he is also battling Internet retailers. He said the web is a good alternative if a customer knows exactly what they are looking for, but making returns can be much more of a hassle than in person.
Kimerling, who”™s run his business since before the days of Internet sales, agreed. His suppliers, including New Balance and Nike, now bypass the middle man and sell new products exclusively before offering them to other retailers.
“The whole business has changed in the past several years,” Kimerling said. “Before, the main competition was catalogs. Now it”™s websites. The same guys we used to consider our partners are now competition.”
Tim Rabb, manager of Rye Running Company, the subsidiary of The Running Specialty Group that also operates Bronxville Running Co. and Greenwich Running Co., said the Nov. 1 New York City Marathon and other fall races have brought in customers looking for cold weather apparel and nutrition products.
January and February are typically the runner”™s slowest months, but Rabb said business remains steady throughout much of the rest of the year. His store sponsors the annual Rye Turkey Trot around Thanksgiving, the Rye Derby in April, July”™s Corporate Fun Run in Purchase and the Westchester Triathalon in September.
Though Rabb said he sees a fairly diverse crowd, most are middle-aged women primarily from Rye, Harrison, Mamaroneck and Larchmont.
“This is a family town,” Rabb said. “It”™s definitely a big race time of the year, so you do have an influx of people. It”™s always running shoes that bring people in here.”
