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Jan 2013
10:36am, 18 Jan 2013
7,076 posts
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Boab
Start Fitness have a huge shop in Newcastle town centre.
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Jan 2013
11:07am, 18 Jan 2013
8,349 posts
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ChrisHB
I would never try out anything in a shop and then buy it online; but so many running shops are minimally stocked and overpriced that I'm almost as likely to find what I want in TK Maxx as in the "proper" shop. In London I only know Run and Become with a wide range.
When you see the countless thousands of runners in London, all very smartly dressed*, I'd have thought the running shops must be doing a roaring trade.
*Not me, when I'm among them.
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Jan 2013
11:12am, 18 Jan 2013
14,760 posts
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JohnnyO
I but online, if they dont fit I send them back and ask for a different size.
My local shop is part of a large chain, there is no small business to upset here.
The problem is that everyone is short of cash. Service instore would have to be amazing for me to want to pay more than £30 for it, and that is often the difference between amazon and up and running.
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Jan 2013
11:16am, 18 Jan 2013
8,096 posts
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Keefy Beefy
It's a complicated because I've bought shoes from Pete Bland online, which I gather is someone else's regional shop in Cumbria.
My closest independent store is in Marlow a few miles a way. It's small and pricey. They sell Kinvara 3 for £89.99, Pete Bland is selling them for £65.
Mostly it's just Sweatshop around here.
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Jan 2013
11:17am, 18 Jan 2013
2,808 posts
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Kimbles
Got my gait done at Run4It when I started running and bought my first pair of shoes from them. I do however now buy them online as they are cheaper and I am not going to pay over the odds when I can get them £20/£30 cheaper from a running shop's online site. I know there are overheads etc but why do the shops have to charge such exorberant (sp) prices when they can do them cheaper on their web pages.
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Jan 2013
12:03pm, 18 Jan 2013
73 posts
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Carlos Fandango Jnr
How does the OP arrive at the conclusion that online retailers "dodge tax"? HMRC would be interested to know.
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Jan 2013
12:11pm, 18 Jan 2013
4,042 posts
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leaguefreak
They may be thinking of Amazon, and the recently publicity that they (along with Starbucks) were paying very little tax in the UK due to (I think) the company being structured in such a fashion that it generates little taxable profit in the UK. Whether this is an attempt at (legal) tax avoidance or for operational reasons with incidental tax efficiency benefits remains a matter of debate.
I presume other multinational businesses could be operating similarly tax efficient ways of trading.
And that may be what the OP refers to.
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Jan 2013
12:18pm, 18 Jan 2013
6,416 posts
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fleecy
I do a bit of both too, my local running shop has lovely staff and the prices are ok (trainers aside) and while their stock is limited it covers the basics. Plus it seems impossible to find my bra size anywhere on the Internet so I think I will ask the shop to order it in. Sometimes if you want something specific online shopping can be better though.
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Jan 2013
12:46pm, 18 Jan 2013
375 posts
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NickyNoo
If i'm buying my normal trainers then normally i just get them online rather than make a 40 minute journey to my local independent running shop.
If i fancy something a bit different i will go and get advice, try on and buy from them. I would never go and have my gait done, take up their time etc and then buy on line i've always seen it (if extra) as paying for advice etc and i know i always get good advice from them!
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Jan 2013
1:29pm, 18 Jan 2013
1,999 posts
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Bru-Bru
This debate reminds me of a Tesco metro that recently opened near my office. The popular local family-run deli juat across the road campaigned vigorously against it and started a petition. I signed it only very reluctantly, because my view is that shops should compete and, if they can win the business through service or price or quality - they deserve it. If not, they won't survive anyway. However, I noticed a lot of the names of my office colleagues on the list. Well, the tesco got built anyway, and am now amused to see all the colleagues who sgned the petition go there for their sandwiches. I personally still use the deli, not because I am sorry for them but because their food is actually better quality and better value. Moral is, though, that whatever people SAY, they will shop wherever they think they get the best deal for them. Online competotion will drive out all retailers who don't offer something over and above value for money, because it is so centralised it has economies of scale, low overheads, etc. With some kit, I agree the "something over and above" is getting the fit right on your shoes, and not having to wait for the post (in either direction) and it IS wrong to take a retailers time and service and then buy from someone else over the internet but this is the future: no point protesting about it. Retailers who have a srtrong enough reason to exist still will. There's going to be a lot less of them than now, though, that's for sure.
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WARNING to those that shop with Wiggle
Oct 2016