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Fleet Feet Sports, Gaithersburg named one of America’s 50 Best Running Stores
By Robyn and Chris Gault
Gaithersburg, MD
November 17, 2009
For the Washington Running Report
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The owners of Fleet Feet Sports, Gaithersburg announced that they have been named one of the 50 Best Running Stores in America.
The award was presented by Competitor Magazine and Formula 4 Media, producers of The Running Event, the largest conference and trade show for running specialty stores in North America. The awards were presented on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 during The Running Event in Austin. A write-up will appear in the December issue of Competitor magazine.
The selection of The 50 Best stores was part of a year-long selection by Competitor magazine and Formula 4 Media that involved "secret shopper" evaluation of the store, and feedback from the consumers who shop there and the vendors with whom the store does business.
Starting in the spring of 2008, Formula 4 Media solicited nominations from consumers, members of the trade and even stores themselves. The nominations were narrowed down to about 120 stores that underwent an intense evaluation process. The evaluation included a mystery shopping rating that evaluated the store on 20 different points. This was done by a secret shopper who spent $100 in the store and rated it on points ranging from staff knowledge and attitude, to "does the store offer clean try-on socks," to the ease of the check-out process.
How a store supports its local community is another key factor in determining what stores make the list. The community support is evaluated based on sponsorship of local races, support of charities and essentially what the store does for its local community of runners.
"There are hundreds of great running stores in the country, but we believe this list represents The 50 Best," said Mark Sullivan, president of Formula 4 Media. "Every store on this list should be proud that they earned their way on to the list based on feedback from the toughest, most objective judges out there, their own customers."
Robyn and Chris Gault, owners of Fleet Feet Sports, Gaithersburg, accept their award as one of America's 50 Best Running Stores.
November 11, 2009, Austin, Texas
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