Sunday, January 03, 2010

RIP MetroSport

It ended on December 15th 2009. A 24 (?) year stint of a running store. May not seem like much to you but here it is as I know it.

My first running store was Magic Sports/Runner's Feet in Burlingame. A whole 1/2 a mile from my home and across the street from my high school track. I got my first Nike Pegasus there back in my sophomore year. Unfortunately my high school running career was not as good as it should have been, but that is a different story.

After highschool and college I was running mostly for myself. I wasn't bad. My PB in the 5k was a pretty good 17:06. I worked in the politico/legal world, married young - divorced and was looking for an easier job to just "make it" for a while.

I saw an ad for sales people at MetroSport back in '95. I hadn't even heard of the place and I was a pretty avid runner. But it sounded like fun and it looked like it would be a good rest from the rather high pressure job that I had.

I met some of the best people and best friends at MetroSport. The owner, Peter Crone, has been a wonderful reference all of these years. I ended up marrying the manager and then GM of MetroSport, Mike.

Metro was a great home to runners and of course it had GREAT product. It was one of the best places to find Nike running gear in the Bay Area (especially clothing!). Plus they had all of the other top brands.

MetroSport ended up being a victim of the recession. To see how severe this last downturn was look at how long MetroSport lasted, through all of the other economic downturns in the past twenty plus years. Yet this one did it in. It lost six locations in a few years' time. Devastating.

So next time you're thinking of buying from that big mail order/web company to "maybe" save a few bucks on your next pair of shoes or shorts, think about that local running store with the great service, advice and product selection. It may not be there next week. Then a little part of what you like about where you live will be gone. A little bit more of your community will be lost. More local jobs will dissappear. When will it stop?

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