The Running Works: Going Above and Beyond For Customers

By: Karen Karnis

When you shop at The Running Works in downtown Guelph, ON, you never know who you’re going to run into. Store owner Andrew Catton is a former Speed River Track and Field Club athlete, and says it is fun to be able to count Olympians such as Eric Gillis, Reid Coolsaet and Alex Genest, as well as countless other record-setting and up-and-coming athletes among his customers.

He tells a story of the time Gillis came into the store just before the London Olympics. “He held the door for a man coming in behind him and told me he was going downstairs for a minute. The man pointed at an autographed picture of Gillis on the wall, then pointed at Gillis as he disappeared down the stairs. He just looked at me quizzically,” says Catton. “Then he said, ‘Wait, is that…’ and when I nodded, he just said ‘shouldn’t he be in London?’”

But Catton’s connections with the Speed River team are not really about fame, even though it makes for good stories. “When I ran with Speed River, Dave Scott-Thomas and all of those people were really good to me. Now I have a chance to give back and support the group the way I have been supported,” he says. The Running Works is an official sponsor of the team, and Catton says, “Sure, that doesn’t make us any money, but if we are able to help a kid get a deal, making it easier to strive in the sport – well, I know what a difference that can make.”

Catton has only owned the store for the last twelve months, but he’s been in running retail for over ten years. As an area manager for the Running Room for several years, he travelled a lot. So when Susan Wahlroth called in 2009 to see if he’d be interested in a job managing The Running Works shortly after he found out that he and his wife Shannon were expecting a baby, he jumped at the chance. Then in 2012 when Wahlroth told him she intended to sell the store, he decided the time was right to take it over.

“When you’re working for someone, there is plenty of opportunity cooperation and sharing a vision, but you don’t have the final say. Sure, you’re making decisions, but you don’t get to make those calls one hundred per cent,” he says.

Catton believes there are a lot of advantages to having his own independent running store. “We are really able to get at customer needs,” he says. Unlike chains with fixed inventories, the independents have the flexibility to cater more specifically to their customers. “If after talking to a customer, I feel there is something that could really benefit them and we don’t carry it, I have the freedom to bring it in for them. This allows us to go above and beyond to get customers exactly what they need.”

He also loves to carry new, innovative, and hard-to-find products. As a gear-junkie, he’s willing to bring things in to see how they go over – but he’s selective about what he will continue to carry. “We try things, and sometimes it’s a mistake. In those cases, we’ll take it off the wall. If I can’t believe in a product, I won’t sell it. There is no point in buying into a fad to make a buck if it’s not actually going to benefit people in the long run,” he says.

Catton counts Mizuno among the more innovative brands that he carries. “They’re always pushing the envelope. Mizuno has been doing lighter-weight regular training shoes for years. Mizuno has been doing adaptive support for years. Other companies have just started to get there.” He adds, “My favourite product is the Breath Thermo gear. How warm it keeps you with fewer layers is awesome.”

When asked if there was anything else he wanted to add, Catton said no story about The Running Works would be complete without a mention of his staff. “You must have good people around you or you’re not going to be successful,” he says. “Just like with any athlete, who has a whole team behind them – coaching, healthcare professionals and other support crew – it’s never just one person, it’s a whole microcosm. I can’t be in the store all the time, but because of my staff, I never have to worry when I am not there.”