Why We’re Not Your Average Running Shop
We’ve been at the Corner of 5th and Main in Downtown Boise since 1994. We have a giant T-rex and some baby T-rex painted on the outside of our building all wearing running shoes. We think they are an early version of the Brooks Beast! If you’re reading this and contemplating why you might come to Bandanna versus any other shop, we hope you might find it meaningful to know we are the most appreciative when customers make the decision to shop with us.
We get asked a lot if we do gait analysis and/or how we fit people in the correct shoes. We had a treadmill and camera for several years but got rid of it after someone took a tumble off the back and a Team Member had to rescue them! We knew even prior to this that the best way to really get folks in the right shoe is to start with a good conversation.
We find out what you are in the market for and go from there. We spend as much time and try on as many shoes as may be necessary so you leave with confidence in your decision to shop with us and confidence you are in the exact right shoe. When trying on shoes, we’ll encourage you to take them for a spin around the block and spend a bit of time in them! We are not making this up! We’ll often walk outside with you and watch you run back and forth down the sidewalk or around the building. This is the best way to get a feel for the shoes and see in a much more natural way how they are performing and/or feel to you. Only once in 27 years have we had someone lace up a pair of new shoes and never come back! Don’t get any ideas! We usually get the shoe fit thing pretty right, but when we don’t, we’ll do all we can to keep working with you until we do!
Here are some questions we are likely to ask you when you come in and if possible, please bring the shoes and/or inserts you’ve been using for your running/walking as they can tell us a good story:
- Do you have a brand or model of shoe that you’ve been in previously that you liked/did not like and expand . . . what about them did you like/not like?
- Do you have a recommendation from a doctor that we are working with/need to be mindful of?
- Do you currently wear insoles or inserts? Do you feel they are helping you?
- What type of surface are you running/walking on?
- Are you currently training for an event?
- How fast can you tie a pair of shoes?
- Do you even bother to tie or untie your shoes? See Rich’s Running Tip “To Tie or Not to Tie” under the Running Stories page.
When you purchase a pair of shoes @ Bandanna, you get to choose a FREE bandanna.
INTERESTING FACT:
On average, every minute of walking can extend your life by 1.5 to 2 minutes.