Marathon Sports — Local services in Glastonbury

I recently purchased a pair of shoes here and they ended up having to order them online for me. The girl I worked with in the store was very nice and helpful and for that part I was grateful. However, upon receiving the shoes, I decided that they were not what I wanted. After following up with Glastonbury SR later that day after my purchase asking about a confirmation email and him assuring me I would receive one, by the time I received the shoes I still had not received any order number, confirmation email, basically nothing for a proof of purchase besides my receipt from SR but nothing proving there was a purchase from the actual shoe company. So I called Glastonbury SR and asked for some form of an order number/invoice so that I could go about returning them off the brand website. The owner was very short and gave off a rude tone when speaking to me, it did not seem that he cared that I was unsatisfied with my shoes rather he cared about the money. In a rude manner he asked "So what's the problem? Why do you need that (order number/invoice)?" and clearly my response of being unsatisfied was not enough, he wanted something more. To me that was unprofessional. In the end, he told me I could only get a store credit even though the shoes were BRAND NEW IN THE BOX, not even worn or tried on. To me this was very surprising considering the return policy does not state this and I was never verbally told that either. Immediately, I emailed a generic SR email and within minutes I received a phone call from Sound Runner in Branford. Branford SR took care of everything and completed the return for me as the "store credit policy" that the manager from Glastonbury SR had told me was inaccurate. Thus, I will not being going back to the Glastonbury SR because the manager, Brent, was unhelpful and clearly misinforming his customers so that he could...

They introduced me to the best running shoes I have ever had, Altra's. I have wide feet and have tried various brands and in the past have had to buy 2 or 3 pair of a type of shoes that sort of fit me but not really but are better than most shoes I've bought. Not anymore.

The first time I came in I was mid-run and I think they had only been open for a few months. I told them what I had going on (wide feet and hammer toe) and they watched me walk and I think they brought out two brands of shoes. I can't remember what the first brand was but it doesn't matter. The instant the Altra's were put on my feet I knew they were it. Literally. It was probably one of the top 5 aha moments I've had in my life. The difference in how I run and how I feel after a run changed that day. My sons have similarly wide feet and we get shoes for them at Sound Runners and I don't regret the little extra cost because I know the shoes fit properly and they won't have to live with uncomfortable shoes like I did growing up since they did not make sneakers like they do now and you don't find people like you do at Sound Runners making sure you have shoes that fit and are comfortable.

I generally get some inserts as well and have bought like 4 or 5 sets of inserts for other shoes like my work shoes and don't really think about my...

Today I witnessed first hand the death of brick and mortar. I got a pair of Topo shoes, a brand that I didn't know much about. I did the foot scan, ran down the sidewalk, walked in the store ect... The service was great (5 star). I took the shoe for a run and it was the most painful experience I've had short of hockey skates.

Topo had a 30 day return policy so I thought, awesome, I'll just return the shoes. I called Topo and they told me that since I didn't order through them I would have to go back to Sound Runner (this is where brick and mortar dies). When I brought them back, Sound Runner could not return them because they "could not resell them." I got store credit...

My question is, why would I ever shop at a brick and mortar store when Altra, Hoka, Nike, Topo and maybe others give a 30 day no questions asked return? If I buy through Sound Runner I do not get that same courtesy? I guess I'm a mail order guy after I spend my...