I was sitting in the back office of my running store that I’ve worked hard to build for the past 3 years, staring at the computer screen thinking “how am I going to pay these invoices?” I opened my stores to spread the joy of running, not sit on last season’s inventory and growing debt. Then my manager walked in and told me there’s a customer asking if we carry the latest New Balance model. Dang it: I forgot about futures orders. Nearly all small retailers know this sinking feeling in their gut. I want to carry everything, but I can’t take any more inventory risk. How do I keep up?  How am I going to pay for new inventory? I was overwhelmed and discouraged.

I tried exploring new payment terms, opening new distribution channels, finding new brands that had a hit product. But because I was drowning in the day-to-day operations of my store I could never get these new programs off the ground. I ended up doing what many other small retailers do: I discounted the products to get them out of my inventory.

Eventually I realized that running is a hobby for me, but helping people get their products into the hands of the right customers is my passion. So I closed my stores and began the work of solving these problems for all small, speciality retailers.