Road Runner Sports — Local services in New Trier Township

I am a long time half marathon runner, and my son runs varsity cross country for his high school. He needed shoes for the new season, and although we had always gone to Fleet Feet in the past, a friend recommended that we try your store, which is closer to our house. After waiting a while to even be acknowledged by someone when we came in, an associate finally came over and, without any greeting, said to my son, "Let me guess. You're running cross country and want shoes." (He did not acknowledge me at all.) My son told him which shoes he was looking for and asked about a different line of the same brand that you had on display, which he had heard about but never tried. The associate's attitude was so smug and not at all friendly or helpful. He said, "Yeah, you don't want those for distance running." When my son asked him to explain why not, the associate said, "Look - I have a lot of shoes, and I've run in all of them. I'm telling you that they're not good." Then he called across the floor to another associate, "Hey, would you wear these for distance running?" The other guy looked appropriately uncomfortable, but he answered no. Our associate asked him why not, and he answered, "They're too comfy." Neither of us was satisfied with this answer, but it was the only one we were given. Our associate then asked my son why he was so hung up on this brand anyway. I cut in and said that he wore them last season and had a good experience in them, which seemed to annoy the associate. He asked for my son's shoe size (he did not take measurements) and agreed to get a pair of the shoes my son wore last season for him to try on. He brought them out and handed them to us, leaving us alone. My son put them on, but he wanted to try running in them since they were somewhat different from his old ones. Our associate came back several minutes later and asked if the shoes worked - seeming to want to close the sale. I asked if my son could use one of the treadmills. The associate sent us over to the machines, and my son ran for a few minutes. We went back to the bench we had been at the whole time, but the associate never came back. (I saw him hanging out at the side of the store.) My son and I left and went to Fleet Feet. We had a wonderful experience there, and he got a great...

What shoddy "VIP" service. My daughter, on a break from active military, wanted to get new running shoes,. I told her about Road Runner, and immediately after landing at OHare we drove to Wilmette. Someone took our phone number and said we would be called. After waiting 30 minutes, we told this person that we would go get a coffee and come back. He checked his log and saw that he had not signed us in. 'We came back and were told that since we left the store, we have to wait more. It is now more than one hour. Then, the manager came and gave me daughter shoes to try on. Then, Alex came to tell us he was "trying to get rid" of her (he rolled his eyes over to a customer, who yes, needed more hand holding than normal) and he would join us. Then, Alex and the manager got into it about him staying longer, resulting in Alex signing out and still working (okay, the lawyer in me knows this is what Walmart used to do to cook their books). Then, Harding came over. When my daughter said "size 43" he asked her what size in US sizing. I asked her why she said 43 and she responded that because her feet are so large, she often needs mens shoes and "size 43" encompasses both men and women sizes. Then, Harding asked "why are you trying on shoes before the fitting" and then it just went downhill when, after doing research on the shoes (her back hurts from rucking), she knew more about running shoes than the associate at a gym shoe store.

The next day, we drove to the Downers Grove Road Runner. There we met Benajmin---he gets my vote for an immediate promotion to a management position - who was not only friendly but knew his stuff.

I will reach out to the division level management but your Wilmette store needs some...

I walked in there about half an hour before closing time to buy a new pair of shoes for long runs. I get that this isn't the most gracious time for someone to waltz into a retail store as most employees are usually pretty low on energy and want to go home. But I digress.... I came specifically to look at a pair of Hoka's. I've never run with that style of shoe before so I needed the expertise of a real live person who had a knowledge of the fit, ride, and running experience unique to shoes with chunky midsoles. I just needed someone to spend 3-5 minutes talking me through some of the intimate details of what it's like to use the shoe. It took around 5 minutes of me being in the store and meandering around there for someone to initially acknowledge I was there. The dude who helped me gave me two pairs of shoes to try on and then walked away. At this point I wasn't too bummed out. It seemed like the store was understaffed so I assumed the guy that was helping me would check in on me after he finished helping other customers. He didn't and I was just sitting in a mostly empty store (at this point) for about 15 minutes before I got up and left. I felt like coming here was a big waste of time because, aside from the luxury of being able to try on a shoe, I got the almost exact same amount of service as I would have if id ordered the shoe online. Please do better...