The year 2025 got off to a rocky start for Fleet Feet, the run specialty channel’s largest player with 310 retail stores peppering the U.S. landscape.

Beginning in mid-January, the North Carolina-based company endured nearly 50 days of negative comp store sales, which CEO Joey Pointer considers “a litmus test” for Fleet Feet’s performance.

“The customer gets to vote every day with their wallet and comp store sales are your scorecard,” says Pointer, Fleet Feet’s CEO since 2017.

By spring, however, Fleet Feet’s numbers began rebounding, which led into a “great summer,” according to Pointer. The company’s resilience only intensified Pointer’s enthusiasm for Fleet Feet and his excitement for what the brand can accomplish.

“There’s nowhere else I’d want to be,” Pointer says. “Our industry, our channel, the experience we provide to our customers, that's still exciting, and if it were easy, everybody would do it. When it's hard, that's where you have to grind. That’s what separates the good from the great.”

In a wide-ranging interview during The Running Event in San Antonio earlier this month, Pointer sat with Running Insight senior writer Danny Smith to reflect on the year that was at Fleet Feet and what’s ahead for the soon-to-be 50-year-old Fleet Feet brand. 

Fleet Feet added 14 new stores in 2025, including its 200th franchised location, to reach 286 total locations. Fleet Feet’s portfolio also includes 28 New England area stores under the Marathon Sports banner. Fleet Feet opened stores across New Jersey, Texas and North Carolina and continues expanding in markets such as Dallas, Miami and Los Angeles. “You always want to do more. You want to be growing.”

Despite its swelling national footprint, Pointer still sees immense room for growth. He says Fleet Feet’s aided and unaided awareness remains stuck in the single digits. He has aimed to counter that with a blend of national events and promotions alongside involved local operators who champion running and active lifestyles in their respective communities through outreach, programing and events. “We clearly need to open more doors and to expand our geographical footprint, but I do think we have more opportunity in our markets to grow our brand awareness.”

To that end, Pointer and his leadership team looked to cultivate eyeball-capturing partnerships throughout 2025. After Foot Locker cancelled the annual high school national championship meet held each December, Fleet Feet teamed with Brooks and others to rescue the famed race and ensure its spot on the cross-country calendar. Fleet Feet also collaborated with FloTrack on Diamond League coverage, including watch parties at Fleet Feet locations, and joined with Altra to launch Stay Out There, a winter-season endeavor challenging participants to complete 360 minutes of activity over six weeks (November 1-December 15). The initiative attracted more than 180,000 participants. “We’re looking for partnerships where we can elevate our respective brands and where there’s a lot of synergy and overlap.”

At the same time, Fleet Feet strengthened its inventory mix. The company added sock brand Jogology to its vendor partner roster and deepened its relationships with vendors like Lululemon, whose products are now available on FleetFeet.com. “We're just looking for ways to use our scale and reach to do bigger things.”

Running is in an undeniably positive position right now, Pointer says. Run clubs are surging. Race participation numbers are climbing. And interest in leading healthier, longer lives continues blossoming, which is a hunger run specialty shops like Fleet Feet can feed. Now, is the present momentum sustainable? “Truthfully, I don’t know the answer to that question, but I'm all in terms of doing our part to help accelerate it. Whether it's a five-minute mile or 25-minute mile, we want people to move and to be active. That’s good for our business.”  

Unapologetically ambitious, Pointer has no plans to slow down. On the store count front, he wants to continue the push toward 400 stores. He sees opportunity to add new franchisees and support the growth of existing franchisees. He also acknowledges Fleet Feet’s position as a potential exit strategy for independent run shops, specifically those doing $1 million-plus in business with a solid location, staff and community connections already in place. “I'm ready for any conversations.”  

Pointer touts technology as a differentiator for Fleet Feet and says the brand will continue to leverage tech to sharpen its decision-making and operations. For instance, the company has geofenced all of its single-story Fleet Feet shops, which provides insights into where customers are coming from as well as consumer behavior. Such data, Pointer says, is informing everything from marketing efforts to store locations. As another example, Fleet Feet’s purchasing team recently launched an AI-powered program to balance in-store product assortments. “We’re trying to use more data and science in terms of how we approach the business at every level. We’re not going to be setting the bar in terms of the AI race, but we definitely want to be in the race.” 

Fleet Feet leadership also continues looking for any and all ways – big and small – to strengthen ties to local consumers and elevate the customer experience. The company recently hired two individuals to revitalize Fleet Feet’s store training programs, many of which vanished amid the pandemic, and Pointer shouts out an employee at a Florida-based Fleet Feet who has taken to handwriting inspiring and motivational messages on the store’s paper shopping bags. “At some point, good is not good enough. You’ve got to be great in retail today, so how do you continue to create a culture that fosters that innovation, that deeply caring connection to the customer at every level?”

In 2026, Fleet Feet will celebrate 50 years, a feat few U.S. businesses ever reach. It’s an exciting milestone, for sure, yet Pointer holds even grander ambitions. He shares visions of taking Fleet Feet international and believes Fleet Feet can hit once-unimaginable marks like 1000 stores and 100 years. “We’re still just scratching the surface of what's possible in terms of growing the Fleet Feet brand.”