Fleet Feet Sports, Syracuse co-owner recognized

DeWITT — When Ellen Griffin, co-owner of the Fleet Feet Sports, Syracuse franchise, received her entrepreneurship award at the recent WISE Symposium, she told the attendees the local franchise had really evolved over the past 13 years.

“I decided that we’re not in the running-specialty business, we’re in the changing-lives business,” Griffin says, reiterating her remarks from the symposium in an interview with The Central New York Business Journal.

A committee of the WISE Advisory Board chose Griffin as one of two winners of the Ann Michel Distinguished Entrepreneur Award.

Organizers recognized Griffin during the WISE (Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship) Symposium held April 16 at Nicholas J. Pirro Convention Center at Oncenter.

The committee also honored Lois Ross, the owner of New Dimensions and Dazzle in Manlius.

The award is named for the late Ann Michel, who was the president of KS&R of Syracuse (Knowledge Systems & Research) and the inaugural winner of the Distinguished Entrepreneur Award for High Growth Venture in 2004.

Griffin says she was “honored” to receive the award, especially after attending the WISE Symposium and meeting many of the female business owners and hearing their stories.

“To be selected from that distinguished group was really an honor for me,” Griffin says.

Fleet Feet Sports, Syracuse opened in May 2000 as a “running-specialty store,” Griffin says, meaning it provided running shoes, running clothing, and accessories.

“We specialize in our fitting process in measuring people’s feet, looking at their gait [a manner of walking or running on foot], talking to them about their activities that they’re doing, the injuries that they’ve had in the past, Griffin says.

She calls it an “extensive conversation” with the customer while a Fleet Feet employee fits the person for a pair of shoes, she adds.

As time progressed, Fleet Feet employees were servicing customers (some older, some injured) for whom doctors had recommended a shoe fitting, according to Griffin.

“So, then I felt like we should be a shoe store or a comfortable-shoe store, not a running-specialty store,” Griffin says.

Fleet Feet, Syracuse has also held “fun runs,” or casual runs, in which anyone could take part. They eventually became more formalized running and training classes, Griffin says. People could sign up for eight-week, 10-week, or 12-week training sessions for triathlons or marathons.

“And that has been, by far, one of our more popular programs,” Griffin says, noting it generates about 10 percent of the store’s annual revenue.

Griffin declined to disclose revenue totals for Fleet Feet Sports, Syracuse, but indicated the store has annually generated double-digit percentage growth in revenue since opening 13 years ago. 

About the franchise

Founded and opened in May 2000, the local Fleet Feet Sports, Syracuse franchise focuses on the fitting of running, walking, and cross-training shoes as well as accessories and apparel for the active lifestyle.

Fleet Feet, Inc. is a national 92-store chain that Sally Edwards and Elizabeth Jansen opened in Sacramento, Calif. in 1976. The company is now headquartered in Carrboro, N.C., according to the website of Entrepreneur magazine.

The Syracuse franchise store has operated at 5800 Bridge Street in DeWitt since January 2010, having moved there from its original 3,000-square-foot location at 3453 Erie Boulevard East in DeWitt — a space the store had just “out grown.”

“It was cramped space for customers. It was cramped space for staff … We didn’t have enough places to store product,” Griffin says.

Fleet Feet Sports, Syracuse now operates in a 10,000 square-foot building that includes a 1,500-square-foot community room for in-store clinics and presentations and an inlaid track for shoe testing.

In addition to more retail space, Fleet Feet now has office space, more warehouse space, and “better visibility” for potential customers on Bridge Street, not far from the intersection with Erie Boulevard, Griffin says.   

Fleet Feet, Syracuse employs 40 people, including a mix of full- and part-time employees.  The store recently hired five additional part-time employees, Griffin says.

About 98 percent of Fleet Feet’s customers are consumers, but the store also provides shoes and uniforms for track-and-field teams at Le Moyne College, Colgate University, the State University of New York Institute of Technology at Utica/Rome (SUNYIT), and several area high schools. 

Mountain Goat, recognition

Fleet Feet Sports is also sponsor of the Mountain Goat Run, an annual 10-mile road race in Syracuse.  Fleet Feet also holds training runs that gradually increase in distance in the six weeks leading up to the Mountain Goat.

Griffin’s husband and Fleet Feet Sports, Syracuse franchise co-owner, Edward Griffin, is president of the Mountain Goat Run Foundation, the nonprofit organization that owns and operates the Mountain Goat Run.

In addition to the store’s community involvement, the local Fleet Feet also has the respect of its industry peers.

Formula4Media and Competitor magazine in December named Fleet Feet Sports, Syracuse the nation’s top running store in 2012, topping the magazine’s list of the “50 Best Running Stores in America.”

Fleet Feet Sports, Syracuse has annually been included on the list, which was initially released in 2006, Ellen Griffin says.   

The criteria include a customer nomination, and a recommendation from running-shoe vendors. The criteria also include community involvement and the feedback from a secret shopper that judges the store based on factors such as the store greeting and product placement.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com