Dominic Stead on Revolutionizing Your Running with the Right Shoes

And this week is the second part of my discussion with Dominic Stead , who's the co-founder of Sporting Feet , a retail shop which is in Richmond , got one in Richmond , surrey , and also one in London which is in Putney . As you'll agree with me , if you haven't listened to the first episode , then please do me .

If you haven't listened to the first episode , then please do , and it's really enlightening episode . All about how he , you know , went to university , did marketing and how he got the idea of , well , how he went into advertising , media and advertising and then decided to go into sports retail .

Anyway , in this episode we explore the importance of finding the right footwear for runners , how proper fitting can transform lives , the common misconceptions around shoe sizing , the evolution of brands and the significance of local running shops in fostering community and providing personalised service . So I hope you enjoyed this episode .

If you didn't listen to the first episode , then please do , and I hope you really enjoy this episode and thanks very much for listening . I mean , is there anything in particular that they're getting wrong , or is it just that ?

Okay , well , let's have a look at your feet . H , my friends swear by Hoka .

Really , it's pretty straightforward , but it requires a bit of care and effort , um , particularly around the fitting . Actually , I think this is the bit that a lot of people don't get right . Um , certainly , on their own they don't get it right , and most people don't know what size feet they've got . Why would they ?

Yeah , you know , they probably haven't had their feet properly measured since they were a kid and someone told them they they think they're a size nine , so they're a size . So , yeah , the most common fault is just people are in shoes that are way too small for them .

Yeah , and the running shoes , but we were just talking about the evolution of the shoes and the technology over the last 10 years plus . They've got lighter , faster , smaller the way they fit , maybe less durable , but they perform better . But they fit small . Um , and you know , season to season they can change in the way they fit as well .

So this is one of the things that you know we got absolutely right about the business . You know there's no substitute for trying them on , and trying them on in the presence of someone who knows a bit about footwear and writing footwear and other sports footwear as well , but particularly running and it makes a huge difference .

I love the fact that you know it doesn't matter what demographic you're talking , doesn't matter what age group is true for everybody . You know , a little bit of help , especially if it's free . Yeah , it goes a long way . Yeah , I , I just love that .

I love , I love the impact that we can have on people , especially the youngsters actually , because they often come in thinking , oh , we can . Just , you know , we could buy online or or we'll have that one . You know that one looks good , yeah , and they don't really realize until they've spent yeah 10-15 minutes with you , what value you can add .

Yeah , and you know , do you think ?

Although in saying that , I've had new balance for the last few years , uh , although in saying that I've had new balance for the last few years , yeah , and and that , um , they , you know there are other , uh , manufacturers I think people are tied to branding .

And , obviously , because of power of marketing , there are other brands out there that you know are maybe not quite as well known as the Nikes and Adidas in this world , but Asics , brooks , new Balance On , you know , there's a lot of brands out there that , do you know , all have credibility and most people will have heard of them , I think , but not everybody .

We still get people coming and saying , oh , I've never heard of brooks , you know brooks is our leading running brand . Um , but I think the credibility that , you know , they see all the staff wearing them , they see other people coming to the shop , you know , wearing them , and coming for another pair and stuff . I mean , I think people are open to it .

I definitely think that . Um , yeah , and in fact that's a really interesting thing , because nike , of course , you know are a huge brand , but there is a sort of pertinent story in in in nike . Nike don't work with most of the running specialists .

You know most of the smaller , smaller running specialists and that's their choice actually initially and I think it's backfired on them . You know , if you look at their numbers in .

You know financial results over the last year or so , yeah , oh , what they call d to c , direct to consumer approach , cutting out everybody , bar and other people they really couldn't cut out yeah , has actually not worked . No , in fact , it's a really negative effect on the business . So I think they're busily trying to put that back together .

But of course , once you , once you tell customers , uh , they tell yeah , well , we are their customers . Tell customers , other retailers , you don't want to work with them anymore , particularly if you tell them in the way that companies like nike do . They're not in a hurry to welcome you back . So it'll be interesting to see what happens there .

But they've also , at the same time , they did that . This is when brands like hoka and on um and the brands that have already had their um got the other act together , like brooks and new balance , yeah , and asics to some extent um . You know they've stolen , stolen a march , but particularly brands like hoka and on , I think for the younger generation .

Um , and those two brands straddle performance and fashion as well . If you want to be a super multi-billion pound brand , I'm afraid you can't just do it on performance , you have to do it on brand as well , and fashion . So hence retailers like JD . They're huge .

They don't really sell running shoes to runners , but they are running shoes in there , but they're normally because they look cool .

So it's an interesting lesson , you know it's it's not all about . You know , direct to consumer and and just selling through your own shops and online , um , I think that is a mistake . Uh , I always thought it was . I didn't really understand why they didn't and just selling through your own shops and online . I think that is a mistake .

I always thought it was a mistake . I didn't really understand why they didn't have a small team of really smart people serving our sector of the industry to make sure that they're the best shoes . Why they don't have their best shoes is shops like ours . But I'm glad they don't because I didn't really want to work with them .

My experience of working in the past was not great , you know . They're just not interested , you know and we're .

So you need to be felt , you need to feel a little bit like you're a partner . Yes , and actually that's the reason why brooks has been the leading brand in a lot of running specialists over the last 10 years or so , because they really have understood that and built a partnership with companies over the years and it's paid off for them .

So you know , and it's just um well , that's true .

People working from home , they don't need to be so smart anymore . So , yeah , those sectors must have suffered a bit , I think . But yeah , so we try

to . We send a lot of trainers to people who aren't necessarily running . One of the things I'm really proud of is how good we are with the older age groups . We have a lot of people coming in with sore feet and we can help them . We can help them with a wider fit and a new balance shoe , maybe an insole , some advice .

So actually , you know it sounds a bit of an overstatement , but you know we've had people come into our shops . We do have our customers coming regularly saying you know what ? You've really changed my life because I can get out and about again . Right , that's good to hear , you know , but some , sometimes you have to persuade these people .

You know , I've never worn a pair of trainers in my life . You know how am I gonna ? I don't want a pair of trainers really , but actually when you try them on , they realize actually . You know what this is , this is , you know , it's transformational to some extent .

I had a customer a couple of weeks ago who'd um from the military , who'd had a quite serious accident , a foot reconstruction surgery , and he came in to see us about a month ago , actually in the Putney shop , and he said look , I just want to try to get back to running .

It's been two and a half years and then my doctor's now signed me off and said you could try . Um , you know , and obviously one of his feet , you know , just really didn't look like a conventional foot . You know , can you help me , right ? I honestly think we were one of the only retailers who could have helped him .

I know he came to us because he , you know , he'd got friends who'd been to us and they thought we might be able to help them .

Um , and , yeah , we , you know , we , we scanned his feet , had a look , and because of the sort of knowledge that we have of the footwear market as well , we were able to order him a very wide new balance uh running shoe and , um , I took a risk on it actually , because I just thought it was such a touching story .

You know , if we get stuck with this size 14 4e shoe , you know we'll sell it to someone eventually , um , if he doesn't like it , then , uh , we are going to get stuck with it for a while .

But anyway , it's uh , partly again because we we've done this kind of thing many , many times , we were able to um order something for him that worked really well and , uh , you know , look on his face when he was wearing those trainers thought you know what , actually , I may be at a , maybe at a run .

In these I'm certainly going to be at a fast walk and I may be at a run . Yeah , um , you know , it's just . It's one of the reasons we do it . You know we do get that's a particularly extreme example , but we do get lots of examples , yeah , um , where we're sort of helping people .

Obviously , we're a business , we're in business to to make a profit , but it is nice if what you do actually genuinely does change someone's life . Yeah , yeah , and it can be at the extreme level it really can , particularly with that older demographic or people recovering from , you know , accidents and operations and things it really can .

You know the fact that you're not . You know we all know this .

Um , you know the effect that has on your mental health is dramatic and so we are definitely helping people , um , with that and we help people with a lot of beginners who come in running you know , who might not really look like a runner , um , and they're doing it partly to lose weight and just , you know , to get fit and help their mental , mental health side

of things . You know it's amazing how how it transformative it can be running . Yeah , um , you know the number of times we recommend a couch to 5k , uh , and the number and the sort of people who conquer it . You know it's , it's incredible yeah all in . Some , you know , you don't have to run it in 20 .

You know , run a 5k in 20 minutes , it really doesn't matter , does it ?

And that's the ethos , of course , behind parkrun , which is so wonderful , um , but the idea that you could get round , you know , might walk some of it , um , then you might run some of it , but just the health impact of of that is wonderful and also I like the fact that on on your website you do um , uh sort of advertise .

And you know , the impact on the communities , on our business , has been significant and I think we , you know we played our part in those communities as well . But you know , we have good , really good relationships with quite a lot of running clubs and get involved in a lot of events .

They're quite good , fun , those things um , but they also add quite a lot of value to the business . I think they've helped us with our growth over the years . So , yeah , we we don't underestimate the importance of those things um , but at the same time we we know that we have a business to run , you know .

So we have to tread the line really and balance um , so we don't have our own running group , for example . A lot of running retailers do yeah that's partly because we just feel we'd like to have a relationship with lots of different running groups and actually we're a retailer , not a running group . So yeah , you know , if we don't , you're not careful .

You know you concentrate on things that it's hard enough to run a good , successful business and sometimes you can get a little bit distracted by those things . So it's a balance really . We've always liked to try and be friends with lots of people rather than necessarily run our own running groups .

Actually , the funny thing is this as the shops have got busier and busier over the years , we just don't have enough staff . You know , we we have more staff than we've ever had and we need them in the shops , and long may that continue . You know . So , to do a race as well , it's just very difficult , you know . So we do .

We do still do it a few times we can , but yeah , we just don't . You know , we have to focus on the right things , which is , you know , we've got a lot of people going to the shops . I'll give you an example we , we have a nice relationship with the run fest team , so we have a good system where we help each other .

Um , when their races are coming up , um , we do number collection for them , race number collection for them . So people come to our .

You know , they collect their race numbers in different ways , but some people like to come to a local running shop and collect them that way , and so that delivers a lot of football for us , but also we're doing the job , a job for the race organizer . So that's a really smart way of having a , something that works for both of us .

So we're involved in that race and we might provide some prizes , but we're not actually at the race , that's you know . So there's finding ways to cooperate and work together that that deliver value for both really , rather than necessarily always , always being there . So it's a balance really , but the import .

We don't underestimate the importance community and also for us , because we're across other sports .

You know we can have relationships with tennis clubs and yeah , um , and a lot can we do , and so you know that's , uh , that's an important part of the business , always has been , and we always try and take , you know , spend some attempt , some time on that kind of thing and developing those kind of relationships .

I do think that retail , hopefully , will still exist in that way , um , and but there'll probably be less retail . Just , it's just obvious , isn't it ? You know ?

Um , unfortunately , the sort of middle of the market retailers that don't provide a lot of added value , right , um , they're the ones that have suffered most in the last , you know , five to ten years in the tough environment that is retail . Um , I think more specialists and more experiential will be a role for them .

Um , I don't think you can stop the rise of online , you know . I think you have to work with it . So online is well , like you've proved . So our business , yeah , it's an important , more important part of our business , um , you know , and we probably expect it to be somewhere between five and ten percent of our business this year .

So that's a good balance , because it's not , with it , not insignificant , but it's obviously still clear that 90 of our business is about our face-to-face retail business , our bricks and mortar business , which is the bit that we're more most passionate about .

Um , and you know , as I say , I think the future is reasonably rosy on the sense that you just see all these generations coming in . So the younger generations , they come in , don't get me wrong . They're coming with their phones in their hands . They're looking at the website .

You know they're looking at the manufacturer's website at the same time as they're looking at your shoe . Yeah , more broadly speaking , it's the same price , so that's good . Yeah , it's not like it's way cheaper online .

It shouldn't be really with the latest products from the kind of suppliers we work with , but sometimes it can be be a rogue retailer out there online selling it much cheaper . Um , also , there's myriad colors that you probably haven't got them all in every size . Why would you ? It's too expensive to do that .

So it's not without its challenges , but I think if you add value , customers will still mostly want to do business with you . So we , you know we find ourselves ordering quite a lot of one-off shoes for people . If you know they they love the shoe we've got , but they don't want the color we've got .

They want another color , but we can normally get it not always , but mostly we can and customers because we've spent 15 , 20 minutes with them and added quite a lot of value normally quite patient and don't want , you know , want to give us the business , so we end up ordering it for them .

But I think the future is yeah , I mean , it's hard to say obviously technology is moving so fast , isn't it ? And uh , things like ai , you know , are clearly gonna make it a little easier to sell this kind of stuff online , you know , to have kind of virtual fittings and this kind of stuff is .

I think the problem is the challenge is that everything gets more global . Yeah , so the brands are getting bigger , uh , and so that's the challenge , I think , for smaller retailers like ours how how do we , how do we , remain important to a huge , you know , multi-billion pound brand ?

You know , will they still think we're important if we're all sort of separate and doing our own thing ? So that's probably our biggest challenge . Five to ten year industry is whether we can survive like that . But at the moment prognosis is good . You know our performance over the last few years . You know , took us a few years to make a profit .

That was another challenge we faced . You know us a few years to make a profit . That was another challenge we faced . You know we stuck with it because we thought we would eventually um , and now you know again touchwoods , and we work hard at it , but we've never been more successful . In a way , in our own small way .

You know , the business is growing quite fast , more profitable than it's ever been , um , and that's wonderful , isn't it ? But you , but you can't . You know , you have to keep ahead of the game .

I can't assume that's always going to be the case , but certainly the last , as I say , really post-COVID , those growth numbers and I know it's the same for a lot of other retailers because I speak to them it's quite healthy , this sector's quite healthy , which is wonderful .

The problem is you get this deluge of people coming in and you're not sure which of them came in first . You're not sure which of them really are serious buyer or not . But you can't can't be rude to people .

You've got to treat them all as if they're the same uh , and they all are potential buyers because some of them are just literally on a ted lasso tour .

We try and run this business like a bigger business , even though it's a smallish business , and so we have ways of doing things , ways of greeting people , the things that we say to them , behaviors that we train in our staff to try and sort of work our way through that situation .

But yes , it can be suddenly go from you know nobody in the shop to 10 people in the shop and there's only four people serving , so you can't serve them all at once . Um , how do you , how do you navigate that nice problem to have ? yeah but it is nevertheless a bit problem . So you have to work your way through it .

But I find that if you just talk to people and you're honest and you say , look , I'm not sure who came in next , you know who came in first I think it might be new , you know they're . Normally most people are reasonable , aren't they ?

And they will , they'll help you with that and most people accept that you want to serve people in the order that they came in , through the shop , through the door , and , uh , most people are okay with that . But yeah , it can get a bit hairy it can um gosh .

. Yeah , because you know his record . It's a bit like football in the premier league people who sort of existed before the premier league , like like Jimmy Greaves , yeah , you and I probably both hold an eye on him , I know , I remember him . Although I don't remember him yeah , remember .

I never watched him play because I'm not quite that old , but I'm well aware of him . He's got the best non-scoring record , never mind Alan Shearer , but he existed pre-who . Everyone's forgotten about , a bit like Jack Nicklaus with Tiger Woods . People have forgotten about Jack Nicklaus . But he's won the most majors .

He won 18 majors , but when you dig down into his record , he came second 19 times . So not only did he win 18 times , he came second 19 times . Incredible Five of those were in a playoff , so he could easily have won those . And in those days you didn't just have a three-hole playoff , you had an 18-hole playoff the next day .

So his record's incredible and he's also quite well remembered for a very sporting gesture that he did in the Ryder Cup in 1969 , where he conceded a putt to half a match with Tony Jack . So yeah , you know , great winner , but also very sporting .

Yeah , the Golden Bear is probably my one of my sporting heroes got lots of them pick that and what else did I ask you ?

I don't think we've ever been at the doldrums , really , but this was a particularly famous moment actually that a lot of people do know about , and I was there with my son behind the goal , so lot of people do know about , and I was there with my son behind the goal , yeah , um , so it was the playoff semi-final in 2013 and literally in the uh , final stages

of the game , leicester got penalty , yeah , and if they converted the penalty , they'd have won the match 3-2 and gone to the final playoffs . So they had this penalty . You know , being a long-suffering watford fan , it's just , that's just typical . You've got penalty in the 90th minute yeah , he's going to score .

It's all over and we're going to watch it because we're behind it . So what happens is the keeper saved the penalty . Then ball came out and it looked like it was harder to miss the rebound than even the penalty in the first place , and the keeper saved the rebound as well , and then the ball was basically went straight out .

Manuel Almunia , spanish goalkeeper , threw it out , watford went straight down the other end and Troy Deeney scored . It's just one of the great moments , you know . It's obviously one of the great moments for a Watford fan , but I think even a lot of non-Watford fans remember that Deeney goal .

It was just such a incredible moment , really , and I nearly broke my leg , falling down the stand at the time , because it was just . You know , it's just one of those things . It just didn't look like it was possible . You went literally from despair to to to incredible joy in the space of about 10 seconds , which is what sport's all about , really , isn't it ?

So it's a particularly great moment . Brilliant , that's .

Yeah , how this team , you know , outwitted the some of their bigger competitors by just recruiting smarter , recruiting on metrics exactly good examples of how that works these days . And obviously you know data analysis is so important in all sport these days .

But you know it's been a real driver for clubs like brighton and so on , allowed them to compete with the man cities of this world who've got unlimited funds .

I think that's the great thing about you know , the most satisfying thing about our business . I think people appreciate it . People appreciate the fact you go the extra mile yeah , and then also you've , you've found your niche not used to it anymore .

The other 10% are not , and I think the independents usually do those other 10% really well , and you know that's what makes the difference .

So , yeah , you know the world needs to , it does need to adjust . Um , I sit on the uh positivity putney board , which is a business improvement district for putney , so I see sort of firsthand , you know , some of the struggles that , yeah , retail has . Um , you know , and obviously you know it's not always plain sailing for us either .

But you know there's just , it's just not easy . The rent's too high , particularly on the high street . Um , you know the environment , the business environment , is not easy . Um , in this year for retail is going to be quite a difficult year , I think , because the relief on rates comes down .

So that will affect businesses , really affect some of the big businesses quite a lot , which is not good news .

I'm not quite sure that some of those moves make a lot of sense , but yeah , the rent and rates issue is a big issue for retail and , uh , it's a barrier to entry and some , some of those right , you know , if you look down the high street in richmond you know it's not quite what it was . No , no , it isn't .

We're still there , not really proud of that , but I've seen so many people come and go um and you know it's , it's sad really , um . So the the you know go back to what I said . I think there's definitely um going to be some retail and the good ones will survive to some extent . I think um , but they're just probably going to be less of it .

to wrap up . I hope you've really enjoyed our conversation and , as I said , as I normally do , we will split up the podcast into two . But thank you very much , uh , for coming on .

Um , if you want to , uh , I don't know if you wanted to sort of promote your website where you are and if you have anything at the other links you wanted to promote at this time yes , obviously we're um , so it's sporting feet .