T
o David Penrose, it just made sense.
Before the retail rookie purchased
Klicks Running and Walking in
Bellingham, WA, last year, he
performed his due diligence – and
then some. Penrose solicited input
from local coaches and running
groups and measured the 20-year-
old running store's market appeal against
another local independent running shop as well
as the area's three big-box sporting goods stores.
He gathered earnest counsel from his older
brother, an investment banker, as well as insights
from other legal and financial pros.
Most importantly, though, he stood in Klicks
himself, from opening to close for an entire week.
He chatted with customers and staff and, above
all, observed.
The business was struggling, Penrose knew,
and he sure wasn't going to invest without
understanding where it was leaking and why.
"It was work that had to be done," Penrose
says. "I had to determine what might have been
broken and if it could be repaired."
Today, Penrose's calculated efforts have the
once stagnant running shop on the upswing
and sporting a new moniker as BBay Running.
Eyes on the business
Though Penrose was a Klicks customer and
longtime associate of store founder Jim
Clevenger, Penrose shifted from happy-go-
lucky customer to strategic businessman when
the opportunity to purchase Klicks arose.
Fortunately, it was familiar territory for
Penrose, who has a background in analytics
and computer science. In fact, with an
insurance company he founded, Penrose
was accustomed to analyzing the value of
businesses.
He walked into Klicks on a Monday
morning with lunch in hand and eager to
understand the shop's operations and vibe. In
the first hour, he asked the manager about how
many customers the store might expect, about
customer ages and the gender breakdown. The
manager relayed anecdotal thoughts, but no
concrete metrics.
The Power of Observation
Before purchasing a struggling Washington-based
running store, David Penrose sat back and observed,
an exercise that now has BBay Running on the rise.
Photos:
Facebook.com/BBayRunning
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BY DANIEL P. SMITH
Penrose's calculated
efforts have the once
stagnant running shop
on the upswing and
sporting a new moniker
as BBay Running.