Chris' area of shoe expertise is in the world of 'running', He has worked for some huge sneaker companies but has given that up to set up his own boutique running shoe company called 'The Running Company' in Australia.
I can speak first hand for Chris' knowledgable and personal service, after all, it was he that got me running again after 9 years of leg problems and operations that seemed at the time incurable. His remedy - The Nike Free, a shoe he helped launch. The rest is history as the shoe did more for my recovery than years of physio, and as such the friendship was made.
Chris has a top reputation in the shoe game and I thought it would be of interest to sit down and chat shoes with him. A huge thanks to Chris for taking the time to speak about his background, the industry and that elusive nickname.
IDYSM: Hey Chris, you’re a man with quite a reputation in the sneaker game, tell us a bit about your background and your latest venture ‘The Running Company’.
Chris: I’ve been really fortunate in life, I love sneakers
and I started off my addiction playing basketball when I was growing up in
Adelaide. I remember my mum bought a pair of Air Revolutions, I was so in love
with those shoes! When I was starting uni I got a job at Bailetti Sports in
Adelaide, then Rowe and Jarman. It was from there that I met Paul Crough who
was a footwear product line manager at the time at Nike, I told him I was going
to travel Europe and he knew the HR manager at Niketown London. I ended up
working almost a year there which then took me onto the Product Line
Co-ordinator job with Nike in Melbourne, then EKIN* for NSW, SA and ACT (medical
and technical rep, you should know the product back to front) and my final role
at Nike was the National account exec looking after all Athlete’s Foot stores
for Aus and NZ. I was really on the cusp of taking my next step in life and as
life does, everyone comes to a fork in the road at one stage or another, mine
was, do I move Overseas and work for Nike in Oregon in footwear development (what a
dream job!) or I saw an opening in the Australian marketplace for what a good
running store should be which wasn’t currently seen here. I seriously had
been sick of travelling so much for work and really wanted to build something
for myself, my closest friends and family whereby they can employ their passion
and impart this and their knowledge to help runners achieve their goals here in
Australia. I took the latter and here I am, about to make the next big move in
my life…
IDYSM: I don’t think I’ve spoken to many people more knowledgeable or passionate about shoes in their field. Where does this passion and knowledge come from?
Chris: I don’t know to
be honest with you, I just love shoes, people and the rawness no bullsh*t that
running is. It doesn’t matter what your surname is, how much money you have,
running really brings everyone together with a common bond. The knowledge is
just built up over time, I’ve been so very fortunate to work with people like
Rob Flick, Scott Nicholas and everyone at Nike who all have amazing history
with the brand and experience but are also amazing people, I’m very fortunate
to be able to call them great friends, for me, it’s all about the people and
the product.
IDYSM: You’ve previously worked for Nike and been involved with some iconic
shoes such as the Free (you were in fact responsible for getting me into my
first pair!), how great is it to be able to be involved with the design of a
shoe, then actually see first hand the benefit it can have on people?
Chris: The FREE project
really changed and challenged everything for me and a lot of other people too,
I was just lucky to be upping my running and challenging pre existing thoughts
around my time as I got the Ekin role, I actually think that I was the first
person to do a marathon in a pair of FREE’s, it also happened to be my first
marathon as well! It feels great to have been able to help people learn more
about their running etc through the FREE as a training tool, I know of a lot of
people who have foot issues due to either brain trauma or old age who have
benefited from wearing them. The problem is that the pendulum has almost swung
too far the other way and a lot of people who are wearing them don’t understand
the concept as a lot of the retailers don’t care about their clients and just
want to take as much cash as possible. In store we do a lot around Natural
Motion and progressive adaptation and to be able to help people improve and
stay injury free is the biggest thing for us, we love talking to and running
with a lot of our customers who are doing this.
IDYSM: Running shoe sales are up year on year
(increasing 6% in each of the past 2 years in North America alone), what do you
think this boom is down to?
Chris: The GFC has really challenged a lot of peoples
economic, family and social values, health and fitness has really become a
focus and all you really need to do is get a good pair of wheels and you’re
off. A lot of people have had that gym membership which cost them so much money
but now have canned that, bought a good pair of shoes and they’re off.
Also marathon running, cycling
and Ironman is now the new golf so more and more people are getting amongst it.
IDYSM: Running shoes seem to offer more choice than ever before – what’s going
on?
Chris: 7
years ago, 1/3 of our current footwear selection didn’t exist, natural motion
was something that only Nike had just ventured into. The other brands have seen
this and have taken their own spin on natural motion, which I feel is a good
thing as not just one brand can cater to every runner. Brooks have done well,
Andre K who used to work on the Bowerman range at Nike now heads up Brooks and
has brought their natural motion range of shoes called the “Pure Project” to
life, this has seen Brooks really expand their product range and capture more
sales and new runners. It’s like a tradies tool box, they won’t do all their
work with just 1 pair of pliers, runners if they can afford it won’t do all
their running in just 1 pair of shoes.
IDYSM: With brands each striving to
offer shoes that are lighter, more flexible, and more colourful than anyone
else’s, are we in a phase of seeing gimmicks sneaking into the running game?
Chris: Potentially and that’s our job to help sort the wheat from the chaff
and keep them honest so that the consumer only gets genuine products which will
help benefit them as a runner. There’s more connectivity than ever with digital
now merging with the real world in every part of our lives, just look at Garmin
connect, strava and Nike plus, so long as it’s motivating people to move, then
I’m all for it, if it’s not, then it’s a gimmick.
IDYSM: How much of an influence have lifestyle trends started to effect running shoes?
IDYSM: How much of an influence have lifestyle trends started to effect running shoes?
Chris: Plenty!
Brands are now starting to hone in on and cater to very specific demographics
and their products show this. On top of this, the colour palate options now
becoming available to the Australian consumer is being driven by the consumers
hunger for more colour as opposed to the Seinfeld plain safe colours of
black/white and blue. If people can have a functional running shoe which looks
like more of a casual shoe as opposed to Jerry Seinfeld, we’re seeing them
gravitate towards it.
IDYSM: What
does the future hold for you, and the store?
Chris: Plenty! We’re really fortunate, we’ve seen rapid
expansion from day dot but this is all based on people, it’s the key point of
difference from the net. I’m in the
throws of developing the next store, put it this way, my house is 5km’s from
one of Australia’s premier wine regions, runners need to hydrate right?
IDYSM: I have to ask - why are you known as 'Chicken'?
Chris: It's my famously skinny runners legs! Before I started running, they were even skinnier than what they are now - that's bad!!!
IDYSM: And,
last question…what’s on your feet right now?
Chris: Flyknit
Lunar one+. The upper
is amazing, I’ve dropped ½ size as the fit is like a glove and growing up
playing football, I love my shoes to fit like a snug soccer boot, it’s
ridiculously comfortable!
* EKIN is someone who knows NIKE backwards.
For more info on The Running Company click here.
For more info on The Running Company click here.
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