Santa Rosa’s Heart and Sole footwear store expands

As longtime runners and coaches, Danny Aldridge and Greg Fogg know the importance of timing.

Some thought the pair’s stopwatches had malfunctioned when they opened Heart & Sole Sports in Santa Rosa in 2007 amid an economic recession.

“People said, ‘What are you thinking?’” Aldridge recalled this week.

It turned out, though, that Heart & Sole also had legs. After a successful eight-year run, the store recently moved into a larger space at 900 Fourth St., directly across from the former location. Sales have more than quadrupled since 2007, amounting last year to about $700,000. The store employees eight.

Aladdin, Aldridge’s “golden-doodle,” is still around welcoming customers. May Katz of Santa Rosa stopped in this week on the advice of her podiatrist, who recommended that she get walking shoes with more depth in the toe box.

“He said they (Heart & Sole) would carry it,” Katz said.

Looking back, 2007 was a good year to open a specialty running store. Over the first decade of the new century, the number of such establishments tripled nationwide to about 1,000, according to Parker Karnan, executive director of the Independent Running Retailer Association.

The boom was fueled by renewed interest in running and race participation, as well as general interest in healthy living.

“These guys at Heart & Sole, they caught the tail end of that renaissance,” Karnan said.

The store’s only direct competition in Santa Rosa is Fleet Feet Sports on Third Street. Paul Berg, president of the Empire Runners Club, said both stores offer services that big chains and online retailers can’t match.

“These guys are knowledgeable,” Berg said of the staff at Heart & Sole. “And there’s nothing like the fit. You put the shoe on and run around the block.”

As the pace of growth in the industry has slowed, Karnan said the challenge for independent retailers is to diversify to meet the needs of customers whose exercise routines involve more than just running.

“The progressive stores are really ... determining how they can innovate to appeal to what their customers want,” he said.

Aldridge said he and Fogg are considering expanding their focus to include soccer equipment and apparel.

Aldridge said the pair weren’t actively searching for a larger space when they noticed that the corner building across the street that had housed Party Time had gone up for lease.

The 3,060-square-foot space is almost double the size of the running store’s former home, but costs only an extra $400 a month to lease, Aldridge said.

“We felt we couldn’t pass that up,” he said.

Aldridge said Heart & Sole has thrived by focusing on customer service, including the store’s liberal return policy.

“We’re not here to make a ton of money,” he said.

Aldridge and Fogg had already generated a loyal following prior to opening the store based on their deep connections in the running community. Aldridge attended Petaluma High School and still holds the All-Empire record for the 800m run.

He later competed in the Olympic Trials and has had a distinguished career coaching high school and college track and cross-country teams. He currently coaches at Sonoma Academy.

Fogg, who coaches at Maria Carrillo High School, competed on the track and cross country teams at the University of Alabama, Chico State and Santa Rosa Junior College, where he is the current record holder in the 3000m steeplechase.

“That gives them good credibility,” said Berg with Empire Runners.

You can reach Staff Writer Derek Moore at 521-5336 or derek.moore@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter ?@deadlinederek.