Footwear Insight

Balance Milwaukee the National Footwear Retailer of the Year in 2013. And the operations have been recognized by Shepherd Express, a weekly alternative newspaper, for four years; by local consumers in an annual business poll; and by the Brookfield Chamber of Commerce. Plus, the retailer has been honored with Footwear Insight's Gold Medal Award for Outstanding Customer Service multiple times. Aer a typically long Wisconsin winter, which included a snowfall in late March, the weather has turned up along with the seasonal prospects for Goodmiles Running Co. Local high school cross-country athletes, an older walking crowd and younger female suburbanites are all among the banner's regular customers on any given day. While Milwaukee area shoppers are always looking for a deal, to date Goodmiles has not faced much, if any, price resistance from its cus- tomers as it always promotes a value message. When Hoka discontinued the Clion 8, for example, the store's remaining inventory of the style sold through swily. But the Clion 9 also had a strong sellthrough rate when it became available. e Sajdaks concur that family's shoe operations have faced a sort of "inventory whiplash" over the last year or so. In addition to the two Goodmiles stores, the Stan's Fit For Your Feet collection of stores includes three Stan's locations, the Vionic Store Milwaukee, and Waxberg's Walk Shoppe. "I mean, it went from famine to you can get almost anything you want now," opines David Sajdak. "We are stocked and ready to go, but obviously we have more in- ventory on our walls compared to a year ago." n footwearinsight.com May/June 2023 ~ Footwear Insight • 21 The retailer reports that it has not faced much price resistance with its run specialty offerings. Goodmiles carries a broad range of running footwear brands.

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