Back in 1981, Paul Coughlin was a high school track coach contemplating a career change. And he found just what he was seeking in Runnin’ Gear, a fledgling run specialty shop in Waterford, MI.
Never mind that Coughlin had no retail or sales experience. Never mind that he was a new father who had to take a second mortgage on his house to afford the $50,000 purchase. And never mind that the $42,000 in inventory filling the shop included a dizzying array of men’s size 13s and women’s size 6s.
“I knew this was what I wanted to do and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity,” Coughlin recalls.
Over the next 44 years, Coughlin led Runnin’ Gear’s rise into a suburban Detroit fixture. He forged relationships with customers and coaches, organized races and contributed to Michigan’s increasingly lively running culture.
In May, Coughlin sold Runnin’ Gear to Antonio Romano, a Waterford native and the former manager of Complete Runner in Flint, MI. Coughlin recently sat with Running Insight to reflect on his entry into, rise in and exit from the run specialty game.
Coughlin closed the Runnin’ Gear deal on the final Friday afternoon of February 1981 in Lansing, MI. He then made the 75-minute drive back to Waterford and enthusiastically opened the store. “Not a single soul came in.”
Coughlin built Runnin’ Gear on high-touch customer service and extensive product knowledge. By 1986, he had removed treadmills from the store in favor of conversations with customers, listening to their needs and, above all, studying their old shoes. “Reading the outsole and midsole was much more informative than any other thing we could do with a customer and helped us be accurate with our recommendations.”
He never looked at any customer as a one-time transaction, either. “When a customer hits your front door the first time, it’s not a $125 shoe you’re selling, but maybe $30,000 in revenue. If you take care of that customer, then they’ll return and tell their family and friends and it all adds up over the decades.”
Coughlin opened additional Runnin’ Gear stores in Rochester Hills and Brighton in 1991 and 1995, respectively. Both performed well, but Coughlin wasn’t fanatical about operating three stores. “I felt I was losing the customer service, my touch and focus. I was training every employee myself, but I couldn’t keep tabs on all of them — and I felt incredibly responsible for how they performed. I wanted to pull back and have one owner-operated store.” Coughlin shuttered the Brighton location in 2015 and, fortuitously, closed the Rochester Hills shop as the COVID-19 pandemic struck. “So, right as a lot of running shops were struggling to get inventory, I was bringing 3000 shoes over to the Waterford store.”
Coughlin came to the decision to retire three years ago alongside his wife, Linda, who managed various back-office activities for Runnin’ Gear. Still, Coughlin didn’t want to simply close the door. “I wanted the store to continue, but only if it could do so in the proper, customer-focused manner. But where do you find that person?”
He thought his longtime employee, Nick Stration, might take over. But at 58 years old, Stration didn’t have the appetite for store ownership. “I was 10 years too late on that one.”
Coughlin put out the word to brand reps and industry colleagues and Romano inquired. After a six-year stint managing Complete Runner, Romano was ready to take his own entrepreneurial leap. “Antonio is eager, enthusiastic and knows how critical customer service is to success. He was the right guy at the right time and I was fortunate it turned out that way.”
While Coughlin says he could go into work tomorrow, he understands Runnin’ Gear needed fresh feet, fresh ideas and fresh energy. “Antonio will do a better job in the next five years than I ever could.”
Owning a run shop enriched Coughlin’s life. He enjoyed having a front-row seat to product innovation and relished meeting a variety of people through the store, from running legend Bill Rodgers and local coaches to everyday Joes and Janes pursuing their first 5K. “Runners are a unique bunch. They finish the race, turn and encourage the next group of runners to finish strong. They’re wonderful people to be around.”
Retail success, however, came with a trade off, and Coughlin admits he did not balance his family time with Linda and his three children as well as he would have liked. “If you want to work half days, then go into retail because every day is 12 hours.” In retirement, he’s excited to spend time with his four grandsons. “I missed one generation and I’m not going to miss the next.”
But Coughlin isn’t clear of the running world just yet. At Runnin’ Gear, Coughlin was admittedly guilty of overstocking inventory, perpetually worried he would miss a sale. He recalls storing shoes in ceiling tiles and praying the fire marshal wouldn’t visit. Now, he’s regularly visiting the Runnin’ Gear building – he remains Romano’s landlord – to extricate himself from thousands of pairs of old shoes lingering in the back. “Anyone need some Nike Equilibriums?”
