Running Store Closures Leave Millions Unable to Get Fitted, Try Shoes on Before Ordering From Zappos
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The coronavirus pandemic has shuttered many retail businesses, including specialty running stores—leaving millions of Americans with no place to go to be fitted for running shoes before going home and ordering them online.
“People are really suffering,” said George Wendt, a spokesman for the National Organization of Online Retail Marketers. “Because of this pandemic, consumers no longer have anywhere to see running shoes in person, ‘pick the brain’ of a sales associate, get fitted to find the proper size, and test out several models before settling on one and then leaving the store to go buy them slightly cheaper from online retailers like Amazon or Zappos.”
Instead, he said, runners are forced to simply order shoes online and hope they work out.
“Basically,” he said, “we’re all buying running shoes blind.”
Statistics are hard to come by, but Wendt said his organization estimates that running store closures have caused approximately $22 million worth of inconvenience over the past four weeks, as “millions of ordinary runners” are unable to essentially treat them as brick-and-mortar showrooms for the online retailer of their choice.
John Ratzenberger, 32, a USPS letter carrier and three-time marathoner, said he is one of those runners.
“I needed new shoes last week,” he said, “and it was such a pain.”
Normally, said Ratzenberger, he would visit a nearby specialty running store to try out various models before ordering them online—sometimes while he was still in the store.
“I usually save, like, $5 or $10 doing that,” he said.
This time, however, he had to skip the first part and go straight to ordering online. Ratzenberger said he ordered several models and sizes, to increase his odds of finding something that would work.
“And then I had five boxes of shoes to return,” he said. “Ugh.”
“I hope my local store is able to reopen soon,” said Ratzenberger. “Guess I really took them for granted.”
