Sports Retail Magazine

Sports Retail Magazine
April 2006

Trade Talk
Jack Lynes, Former retailer and SGB’s man about the sports trade, gets down to commercially and spiritually uplifting business with London running specialist Run and Become

My research prior to arriving at ‘Run & Become’ made it very clear that this was to be no ordinary visit and that I was likely to find customers testing footwear on the pavement outside the shop with a short run. Situated just a short walk (or even a shorter run if you are that way inclined) from Victoria Station, I did indeed witness several runners who confirmed the legend that in my cynicism I had largely discounted — that the treadmill is no substitute for the punishing pavement, and so far, only once has a ‘runner’ run away, leaving behind a pair of battered trainers!

Once inside there was a very real buzz and one was left in no doubt that here the foot was King and that customer satisfaction was the name of the game. I became engrossed in the expert attention and interest being shown to every customer, aware of the professional approach and concern, and must admit to a degree of nostalgia as well as inspiration that the keys to independent success cannot be beaten.

I had come to meet Shankara, who has quietly and bravely stepped into her late father’s role (Tony Smith, the visionary behind this business died on February 28th this year) as the guiding light of this unique venture. Tony was born in North London in 1939 and evacuated to Nottingham. He loved sport, particularly cricket and rugby, and later played the latter for Saracens before a disc problem. After a three year round the world rail trip he was back in London and opened ‘Run and Become’ in 1982 (there are now branches in Cardiff and Edinburgh.) Three factors encouraged him so to do. He was becoming disillusioned with routine work as a Quantity Surveyor and Sri Chinmoy with whom he had established a very special relationship on his travels, and by whom he was introduced to, if not seduced by, the world of meditation and mysticism, inspired him to take up running. He also realised the paucity of sound advice and lack of footwear and clothing choice.

Chinmoy, himself an accomplished decathlete in India in the 1950s, encouraged Tony to set about offering to his fellow runners that which he found missing.

Although it opened in 1982 as a general sports shop, it soon became clear that success for the outlet lay in concentrating exclusively on the running fraternity and their requirements. Today every product is running related, and although footwear is the main seller, the runner will find all his and her needs there, from specialist socks (including the Falke range which takes into account that we all have left as well as right feet) to reading and log books, safety accessories, bibs, water carriers, belts, pouches and of course, supplements. The store is now more than twice its original size and Sri Chinmoy’s influence remains today in an ethos that is peculiar to the business — although Run & Become most certainly pays its way, perhaps to describe it as a business is something of a misnomer. Its name was suggested (or as Shankara puts it “given”) by Sri Chinmoy from his aphorism, ‘Run and Become. Become and Run. Run to succeed in the outer world. Become to proceed in the inner world.’

Tony’s last year was a difficult one and as Shankara spoke about him, I felt as though I was almost able to meet him. He had, she assured me, achieved everything that he had set out to achieve, and she described his abounding generosity, his sense of decency and especially recalls his big laugh. I quickly concluded that he must have been happily aware that what he had started was passing to safe and reliable hands and that the marriage of the spirituality of the East and the dynamism of the West was secure, thanks to Shankara and her sister Dipika, who also works there.

Shankara’s own background combines a balance of Victorian values and Eastern philosophy and has undoubtedly had an enormous influence in her way of thinking. Somewhat modestly, she justifies her success in the school X-Country events to the fact that it was not very popular among her fellow pupils, but X-Country running, even on snow covered ground, was, in her word, ‘magical’. Shankara was actually born ‘Susannah’, acquiring her new name when she was nine years old. It is a name made up of two parts. The first, ‘Shanka’ translates as ‘doubt’ or ‘uncertainty’ and the last part ‘Hara’ means to ‘dispel’ or ‘destroy’. So, true to her name, she is indeed one who has removed doubt from her life and others, and her drive in making ‘Run & Become’ such a very special place exemplifies these characteristics. After running back to her home each evening, some six miles, she frequently takes part in leading meditation classes and runs a music group.

The staff come from different parts of the world, and all but one are female, (there are about a dozen in the London store) but they all work as a family, or rather, harmoniously, which does not apply to every family.

There is not much, it seemed, that might upset Shankara but she gives short shrift to those (fortunately few) who happily take up time and effort to find the right shoe and then ask for a discount because they can find it cheaper elsewhere. From her response to me when we spoke about these parasites of the trade, I would not wish to be in their shoes when they ask!

“You can change your life”, says Sri Chinmoy, “You need not wait years or even months for this change. It begins the moment you dive into the sea of spirituality. Try” he concludes, “to live the life of spiritual discipline for a day, a single day. You are bound to succeed.”

It is an extraordinary combination, this mix of spirituality and commerciality but it does work. Ask the caring assistants. Ask the punters, many of whom will be participating in this month’s London Marathon, and ask the accountant.

As I take my leave, I gladly hold the door open to let in a runner, ready it seems, to put her money where her feet are — and to run and become.

Retail Detail
Here they fit and sell footwear rather than flogging Brands. Logos, Posters and Motifs are conspicuous by their absence. Asics have had a good run (pardon the pun!) and are still flying high, but Saucony is currently not far behind, with New Balance and Mizuno coming up on the straight and Brooks latest offerings ‘simply fabulous’.

As you would expect, women are looked after equally to men, and the customer base is approaching the 50-50 mark. True, there are not the number of specialist shoes for women as for men, but Run & Become do offer sizes for all, as well as widths when available. Shankara assured me that a female’s forefoot (try saying that three times when you’ve had a few at the local) does not differ from the male — it is the heel that might be a little narrower.

Confirming the importance of wearing the right shoe for the right purpose, Shankara proudly introduced me to the sole unit of her Nike ‘Free’, the flex of which is, well, extremely flexible, and apparently the one that is most kind to those who spend their day on the shop floor.

As with any forward thinking business, the internet is now a critical retail tool and their website is a model of its kind, always up to date and easy to use. It is a mine of information about what is stocked and also about running events. Boosting, rather than detracting from store sales which are all about knowledge and service. Mail Order is now a worldwide affair.