The Charlotte Running Company is moving into a new home after 23 years at its original Dilworth location. The North Carolina retailer, which currently has four store locations, is moving a short distance down the road to the Park Road Shopping Center in Charlotte, NC, where it is set to open a new state-of-the-art location that will feature a coffee and wine bar, recovery zone with cold plunge and sauna, a shower and a locker room.

Even better, the new store will be located right behind the Little Sugar Creek Greenway, a flat path that stretches for close to 20 miles and is suitable for runners, walkers and cyclists. Running Insight caught up with Charlotte Running Company co-owner Harry Chander to talk about the move, the impact that they hope to have on the community and the excitement for the future. 

Running Insight: What inspired you to build this new location that includes a lot of things no other running store offers?

Harry Chandler: You know what, I'm thinking about this, because the first question you asked, the answer was immediately co-owner Scott Dvorak … he dreamed this up. The man is probably one of the most creative people that I know and when he sits down with the AI Premier Program and starts drawing stuff up, and starts thinking about stuff, a lot, if not all of everything you see in that perspective comes out of his head.

It's really cool, too, that he still has his fingerprints on the creative standpoint. Some people can be overwhelmed with it.

Scott is very much involved in the company on a day-to-day basis. He still owns Charlotte Running Company. He's still active and in every meeting that we have and it's still a huge part of everything that goes on at this store. I'm hopeful, if you ask me, but I'm certain he will continue to be around for the foreseeable future because I need him. A lot of the decisions that I make, a lot of the things that I learned, a lot of my growth has been directly in connection to knowing him and having worked with him. I haven't had that many business partners, but I will say this is the best one I've ever had. 

When are you hoping to open the new location?

Optimistically, November. Realistically, the beginning of the year.

I was doing some research about the area and found that it is such a major area of activity and not just running and cycling. How has the reception been?

All of this tkind of fell into our laps. Where we're currently at, we were at the end of our lease. They were going to give us the option to renew for another five years, but weren't going to give us first rights to extend after that five years. So it's move now or move in five years and Scott's buddy Roy, who's in commercial construction here in Charlotte, had heard wind of something coming open over there and casually mentioned it. They had some conversations, it developed a little bit further, and then turned into a signed lease. 

Tell us more about the area.

Park Road Shopping Center is one of the oldest shopping centers in the country and one of the busiest shopping centers in the country. It's massive and we're lucky to have an opportunity to be in that base. Where we are now, we have our customers and they've come to know us over the last 23 years that we've been in this spot. Prior to that we were on South Boulevard for three years in an old grocery store, but it's a blessing when people come to Dilworth Gardens, where we are now. They're coming to Charlotte Running Company, or they're coming to get their clothes tailored.  

How will the new spot help your business?

When people come to Park Road Shopping Center, they have a dinner reservation, so they’ll have 30 minutes to kill, or they're going to see a movie and they have previews to kill, so they'll have 30 minutes, or right next to a Trek bike shop at an Orange Theory. One of the most important greenways in the area, Little Sugar Creek Greenway, is 20 feet from the back door of the new shop and it's just an ideal space to add some local flair, and a little bit of retail. 

And there is more to your new concept than just shoes and apparel.

My hope is that it continues to be a third space with the coffee bar and the wine bar, where people just come and just hang out and be for hours, even if they're not shopping. They come get a cup of coffee and they bring their laptop, or they come for a glass of wine and just hang out in the store. For a minute, I was scared, and if you ask Scott, he'll tell you he was too. But I think that's transitioned for both of us to be very excited about the move and the potential of the move. I can't wait, and I know he can't either.

How important is it to establish the culture that you have worked so hard to build over the years into this new location?

I don't think that it's going to be a reintroduction at all. I mean, it's a mile-and-a-half up the road from where we are now. It's definitely a different socioeconomic status and class of people in the Park Road area, but I don't think we would be moving and establishing culture. I think we are just moving and meeting our neighbors. Our culture has been our culture for 26 years. That's not hinged or contingent upon geography or people — that's just who we are.

Do you think in a way you are laying a blueprint for other run specialty stores to follow in terms of community engagement and just being innovative?

We probably have one of the most unique models of a business in the specialty run channel. I think a lot of our friends would say that too. Some good for some, not good for others. We operate as a group and always do, but we definitely have a different setup. It works for us, blueprint wise. I wouldn't necessarily say that we are trailblazers in any structure of a business. 

So what will make it work for you?

We prioritize certain things. Our thought has always been community first, cash after, and integrity and consistency in that department has always caused us to grow. There's integrity with the things that we do, and again, we don't just claim to be a community–driven store, we are a community driven store. That's every decision that we make, even the move.