sportstyle

May 2021 • 29 sportstylemag.com • sportstyle And as Fleet Fleet Nashville celebrates 19 years in the community, she said, she's thinking about ways her shop can channel the scrappy, adaptive mindset of an emerging shop to invite both old and new customers back into the store — maybe even some that picked up walking and running during the pandemic. "As we've reopened we've realized, we put so much effort into training our employees and creating the best customer experience," she said. "But we can't deliver that experience if the customer doesn't get inside the store. We're trying to figure out how best to show up for our community in an engaging way." Other shops are building on online gains and investing more in the e-commerce channels that became crucial during shutdowns. "We're putting more resources into online," Breton said, citing sales that continued to outperform in the channel. "It's working, so let's keep putting time and effort there." Ryan Stauffer said that Market Street's e-commerce channel let them connect with some of the far-flung shoppers who would normally seek the store out during trips and vacations, as well as helping to serve local customers. Going forward, he said, the store is working on ways to make the online shopping experience hew even closer to its in- store counterpart. "That's going to be our challenge: to continue to hone that customer experience as much as possible, and ultimately, to mimic the in-store experience as much as possible," he said. "We're not going to compete with the big dogs — but what can we do to impart that flavor?" Karavel Shoes is betting that some of the trend shifts the pandemic intensified are permanent — and is acting accordingly. According to Ravel, the store has secured special financing and is using it to gut the store and rebrand under a new tagline: "Footwear for the Active Lifestyle." The remodel will refresh the look of the store with new fixtures, paint and furniture as well as a remodel that will give more space to athletic and outdoor styles. "Everything we've read said that after this pandemic, you need to literally start out as a new store," Ravel said. "And that's exactly what we're getting ready to do." While there's still uncertainty for independent shops, retailers said they're looking ahead to change that finally seems like it might be in sight. At Market Street Shoes, for one, the Stauffers have started cautiously beginning to think, at least, about hosting their normal anniversary sale in the store — this year that marks their 15th in the business. "I definitely see a light at the end of the tunnel," Lanne Stauffer said. "I feel very bullish and optimistic." n "In this moment, customers are looking for their go- tos — Dankso, Hoka One One, Birkenstock. Staples are what people are coming out and spending money on." Lanne Stauffer, Market Street Shoes RICS>Pay is an integrated credit card processing solution built directly into the RICS POS: • Save money on rates • No 3rd party gateways • Easy and fast to setup • PCI compliance and Data-Breach protection • Faster processing • Live support from RICS I'm really happy that we switched to RICS>Pay. The RICS Team supported the entire process from beginning to end and made it extremely easy on our team. Taking payments is fast and customers immediately noticed a difference! — Tom, Charm City Running Call or email to discuss next steps.

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