"Lay of The Land"

Timothy Judge

March 8, 2011

Professor Williams

“Walking The Course”

Most businesses try to design their buildings in such a way that it will make the customer more likely to buy the products from them based on the presentation of the store. This is something that appeals to me and tricks me somewhat into buying something when I make visits. I guess I could say that I’m a “sucker” to it and buy something based on the store itself rather than strictly what I do or do not need. Marathon does use this strategy to more effectively coax people who visit to get something from them in their trip instead of leaving empty handed. It may not be very noticeable at first glance but after a little time and paying attention, you notice that everything is placed where it is as part of a strategy.

The building itself stands on the main road of Washington Street in Norwell, Massachusetts. Across the parking lot on the right if you were facing the building, is a gym with an indoor pool that is visible through large windows that personally, always catches my attention when I pull into the lot. When you walk through the doors, the main footwear is at the very end of the building. It takes up the entire back wall for both men and women and has track spikes on a mini wall next to it on the right that are arranged by XC at the top to sprinting and throwing at the bottom with both boys and girls. This is probably the main staple of the entire building and brings the most business by attracting more than just competitive athletes for footwear. The brands of shoes that are sold in unisex are Saucony(personal favorite), Nike, Adidas, Asics, and Mizuno trainers. Somewhat on the same wall are road racing shoes that are from the same brands but are in very limited supply. The track spike mini wall on the right offers mainly Nike, Saucony, Adidas, and Asics for both XC flats and spikes and sprinting to long distances spikes for the rest except for Nike being the only throwing shoe at the bottom. Further right from the main trainer shoe and spikes walls is the space in the building that sells road racing attire for women such as sports bras, shorts, and running hats by the wall and on the floor. In this area are treadmills for the employees to observe how customers walk and run to judge which shoe is best individually for their needs and three changing rooms. At the end of this space is a doorway that leads to offices of the employees and the stock room with all the pairs of shoes are stored. There isn’t as massive a selection of shoes as there would be in places like Footlocker or Champs or Dicks Sporting Goods but they probably have the most of what you actually need and can certainly make sure that you’ll get the shoe that is right for your style and stance.

The rest of the store displays different clothes and some accessories that you can wear for road races, triathlons, hiking, or just simple wear for each season of the year. First to be noticed when you would walk through the door are a few islands that have different types of t-shirts, shorts, long sleeves, pants, and jackets depending on races of the season and their functionality. Specifically, there’s a single island that contains just Livestrong gear from books to clothing and the wristbands with the Nike shoes. To the right, on the far wall are various tops, shorts and under armour material shorts/pants. My favorite item sold in this area at the front of the store is a tall display case of fancy sunglasses on the right that are way too expensive for me to ever buy but they look awesome and are fun to try on. On the left wall and nearby islands are clothes sold on discount which are rarely the size or style that you need or would even want to get.

In the center of the building is the front desk where you pay for the merchandise, a pillar for gloves and hats on one side and then other limb warming wear on the other, hydration items like bags with water bottles in them or just regular water bottles, speed suits and other race wear, swim wear, and other accessories for your shoes or clothes like scented fresheners and watches. On the front desk are these cool stickers for various things like marathon or cross country or track that go on your car and they have protein and granola bars which I haven’t had myself but I assume are pretty tasty. There is even bicycle race gear with the speed suits I think but I’m not completely sure that their specific for bike or just open to several categories of racing with bicycling included.

The most important items or space within the store however is the shoe wall at the far end which was previously mentioned. Probably 90% of the time that I have gone there personally is for new running shoes to train with or to get a new pair of track spikes for competition. All of my friends on the team have gone there strictly for the same reason as well whether on their own trips or coming with me in a car pool type of deal. Any sort of media that is promoted for that particular store or for all of them in the franchise, promotes that wall of shoes and spikes as the main attraction somewhat. It’s kind of like the parquet floor to the original Boston Garden that makes Marathon Sports special from other sports wear franchises.

The other attraction of the store are the people that make up the Marathon personnel. If someone were to go to any other store that is similar to Marathon in the region, the biggest difference they would notice is customer service and overall atmosphere. Every staff member at Marathon is a polite and helpful employee that will go far beyond what another store will be willing to do. People there ask questions and not generic ones but the right ones that will make your visit to the store more pleasant and have you leaving satisfied with what you bought. You’ll walk shoeless for a few steps and they will watch how you strike the ground and what your stance is. Depending on what you walk or run like, they will get specific shoes that are designed to suit the needs of your style. Employees will even watch you jog or run on the treadmill with your shoes to see if they they ride smoothly and correct any problems you had with your stance before wearing them.

The customers are also set apart from most other business with a similar purpose and target market. Every time I go to Dicks Sporting Goods or Footlocker, the people there are usually men in their mid 20’s who are looking for jerseys and high top basketball sneakers, probably for style and no function. I’ve never seen one person ever get a pair of running shoes from those places or even try a pair on. The personality differences between Marathon’s customer base and other places are very noticeable. People at the other places are young people who are mostly into hip hop and rap who speak with lots of heavy slang. The customers at Marathon are usually much older and are looking for shoes to serve a functional purpose; not just for the style of it. The way they interact with staff members are very different in how they ask for shoes and describe what they want. Younger guys at other places will just request a shoe without actually asking for it and aren’t polite about it; although that’s not to say they’re disrespectful too. People at Marathon will politely ask for a type of shoe to help with joint problems and will even engage the staff member in a minor conversation and try to be humorous and pleasant with the staff.