Marathon Sports CEO Ben Cooke and store designer Holly Weise of 3 Dots Design talk about the recently opened trail centric store in North Conway, NH. The pair talk about the vision to bring the look and feel of famous UTMB (Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc) to a run store. And the challenges in doing that: building a giant rock wall, working with brand partners and getting the kegerator to work. Ben also pulls back the curtain on Marathon's new branding and the store's goal to be " the trusted guide to run culture" in the Northeast.

Two great perspectives on what makes run specialty work. From Tokyo, we are joined by CEO of ASICS America Kodama-san. He expounds on the brand's commitment to run specialty and discusses the changing running landscape in the United States and around the world. Our retail guest is Aleighsha Nichols, GM of Running Lab in Michigan, the reigning store of the Year. Aleighsha recounts her career journey and her adventures in retail. Listen in for her inspiring, entertaining tale. And as a bonus, we are joined by Bobby Rossi, CEO of the Runningman Festival who talks about his event and offers up discounted admission for Slingin' Shoes listeners.

Mark and Chris deliver their hot take on the annual Best Running Stores List. And are joined by Genae Salinas and Emma Galeckas of TRE who explain how the list was developed and how they have adapted the criteria over the past two years. We also get into how business can be better for run stores in a candid discussion with Josh Higgins of OS1st. How can stores drive more traffic, increase frequency of visits and boost the average units per transaction. Listen in for our ideas.

Part 2 of our retailer interviews from the Altra spring/summer meeting. Matt Chandler of Run As You Are in Vancouver, BC talks about the store's innovative membership program, and Chris Winter, GM of Reno Running in Nevada expounds on the critical topic of staffing. Chris shares his ideas on recruitment, training and what to do when it doesn't work out. All that, plus the chafe of the week.

This episode features two wonderful retailers: Dom Zambrano, 19 months into his ownership at Running Wild, and John Gignac, a store manager for Red Coyote Running and Fitness in OKC. Sandwiched in between these two retailers is Jen McLaren, president of Altra, who shares the strategy behind the brand's surging growth and its commitment to run specialty. Co-Host Chris Farley lets loose on his "Chafe of the Week:" too many great shoes all at once. An action packed, informational episode.

This episode includes two insightful interviews on careers in the running business. We hear from Dan Schade, GM of the Americas for On, who oversees the brand's business across the U.S., Canada,
Brazil, Latin America and the Caribbean. He traces his career journey from slingin shoes at Fleet Feet San Francisco to joining On and contributing to the brand's growth. Dan shares how his experience at retail helped shape his skills and attitudes toward shaping a culture and building a team.

We are also joined by Slinger extraordinaire Luke Palmer of Palmetto Running Co. in South Carolina. Luke reveals how his passion for running translates to the service he offers and experience he creates for PRC's customers.

Please share this episode with your staffers as it offers great lessons and inspiration on careers in the business.

Join us for a true Daily Double of an episode featuring James Batey of Flostate Running in Vashon Island, Washington and Dan Sullivan of Skechers. James has won more than $500,000 as a contestant on game shows and is hoping his next win is with a new running store on a small island outside of Seattle. Dan provides our listeners with an update on Skechers' growing commitment to performance. The brand has signed 20 MLB players, five NBA stars and is sponsoring two major race series: Wicked Wine and Hot Chocolate. Drink it all in on our latest episode.

They say you could write a book about run retailing. Well Mike Cosentino did. The founder of Big Peach Running Co. does a deep dive on his Peach Partners growth plan and why language and terminology are essential to his stores' culture. We also hear from Deanthony White, director of Charm City Mobile, about how this innovative program literally meets customers where they are. And we get up close with Eric Contreras of Runners Plus in Dayton, the new president of the Running Industry Association.

All sessions were recorded at the recent RIA Summit in Atlanta.