G
o back two years and ask Lu An
Carone-Rhodes for an honest
prediction of Running Princess'
future and she would've scoffed
at the notion of a brick-and-mor-
tar retail shop. "Like everyone
else, I assumed people were all
shopping online and from dis-
count shops," Carone-Rhodes says.
In 2015, Running Princess was an online
operation selling "princessy" t-shirts alongside
a curated selection of about 15 items and three
lines of apparel from other female-owned
businesses. Brick-and-mortar retail was a
distant thought.
Two years later, though, things have changed
mightily as Carone-Rhodes has expanded
Running Princess well beyond its corner of the
worldwide web and opened a pair of physical
storefronts in Oregon. That decision has not only
well exceeded Carone-Rhodes' expectations,
driving sales and merchandise expansion,
but also bucked the prevailing ideology that
Main Street specialty retail is dying a slow,
agonizing death.
"In many ways," Carone-Rhodes says, "this
doesn't make any sense."
Origins of a specialty business
In 2015, while attending a half-marathon
expo in Florida, Carone-Rhodes encountered
Running Princess, a then-fledgling graphic
t-shirt company. Intrigued by the company's
branding and unique niche, Carone-Rhodes
inquired about the company and found an
owner interested in selling. That piqued Carone-
Rhodes' entrepreneurial spirit.
A Royal Bet
Above, left to right: Kathy Engstrom, Sales Associate, Princess Athletic, Bend; Kathleen
Quinney, Store Manager, Princess Athletic, Bend; Lauri Morris, Store Manager & Director
of Online Marketing, Running Princess, Corvallis; Emily Meagher, Assistant Manager, Princess
Athletic, Bend.
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BY DANIEL P. SMITH