Fleet Feet Davenport - Iowa's newest running store

Runners don’t require a lot of gear, but good clothes, shoes that fit well and a few appropriate accessories can improve the running experience tremendously. So, too, can having a place to hang out before and after a run with other like-minded souls, where a true community can be built around this sport that we love. Specialty running stores can provide both the things and the community that help make running great. Fleet Feet Davenport, Iowa’s newest running store, opens its doors to runners, walkers and others in a grand opening celebration next week and hopes to become an integral part of the Quad Cities running scene.

Thirty year old Phil Young is the man behind Fleet Feet. A native of Davenport, Young attended Davenport Assumption where he ran track and cross country after becoming hooked on the sport running and watching the area’s largest running event – the Bix 7. After four years in college at the University of Iowa where his passion for running grew Young landed a job at Scheels in Coral Ridge Mall as the athletic footwear manager where for four years he familiarized himself with the business side of retail but yearned for the freedom, autonomy and opportunities that just don’t exist at large “big box” retailers.

Enter Joe and Jean Dwyer, owners of the three Running Wild stores in the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids corridor. The Dwyers took a leap and hired Young as the first non-Dwyer salaried manager of any of their stores in the spring of 2012. The shift to working at a running specialty retailer allowed Young to innovate and really get involved in the community in ways he had not been able to previously.

“My time at Running Wild was incredibly valuable,” he says. “Not only did I get to manage a running store and really get to do some community outreach around running, but I got to work alongside John (Joe and Jean’s son) to start a business – Running Wild’s new downtown Iowa City location – and see what it takes to open up a store.”

Two years after that, in early 2015, Young and his wife, Jackie, began talking about their next step and contacted Fleet Feet’s central office and discovered that the company was already looking at opening up a franchise location somewhere between Des Moines (where a Fleet Feet opened up in the East Village a few years ago) and Chicago. In September “meaningful conversations” began between Young and Fleet Feet and by December Young had signed a lease for new space and the race was on to get the store built out and ready to open for the busy spring running season.

Why open a Fleet Feet store instead of his own fully independent “Phil’s Running Store?” Young notes several reasons. “Fleet Feet is an incredible brand,” he states. “I can have my own family-owned store and complete autonomy to run it as I want to as long as I maintain certain standards – so lots of freedom within a good structure.” This structure includes financial support, national brand recognition and a network of owners of the 150+ Fleet Feet stores across the country who can be called upon to help offer advice at any time on such things as build out, merchandising and buying. “The fact that they already had interest in opening a store in the town I grew up in and had connections to made the decision much easier for me and Jackie,” he says.


Not that opening the store has been easy. Young has been sleeping in his childhood room for months away from his wife and two daughters while they remain at their North Liberty home. The long hours and stress of build out, ordering, marketing, networking, hiring and all the other things that come with opening a business have been combined with selling their North Liberty home and closing on their Davenport house just a week after the store’s grand opening. “Running has been an absolute must for me during this time,” he explains. “After 12 hours on my feet I want to just lay down and rest but I need to run for the stress relief that it brings, but also for the credibility in the community. I want to be out in the community, with the runners who I hope will become our customers.”

Young says that community is at the heart of everything he wants the store to be. “The Quad Cities running community is large and established. Every day I hear about another group – the Cornbelt runners, the TURds (Trail and Ultra Runners), the moms who run, the Hashers – and there’s still room to grow.” Young’s focus on the community means that he wants to be able to serve both the competitive post collegiate athlete as well as the walker, the person who’s never run a step to the enthusiastic high schooler. “We will have a broad selection but a staff that can explain not just the features, but the benefits of everything we sell,” he explained. “Everything we will have you can find elsewhere and potentially cheaper, so we need to offer a great experience and advice and be the place that people want to come, not just to buy the products they need but also just to hang out.”



Those who choose to come shop and hang out will find a staff of experienced runners. For Young it is imperative that his staff be relatable to his customers. “I’ve been a high school athlete and competed collegiately,” he says. “I’ve done the marathon thing and raced 5ks. I’ve been injured. I’ve coached and mentored beginners. I’ve directed races. My staff has experienced these things, too, and so we can relate to just about anyone who walks into the store.”

In a recent Next Level Iowa podcast interview with hosts Jim Kirby and Mike Jay Young said “I love helping people reach their goals. My passion for running lines up with my career and my hobby and all my extracurricular stuff. It’s all pretty cohesive and I live it, participate in it and volunteer in it.” That sort of passion that Young brings is exactly what every running store, and every running community needs.

Young and his staff will be offering group runs such as their “Tavern Tuesdays,” a variety of group training programs for various events and a race team available for competitive athletes.

The store held a soft opening on March 10 and, according to Young, Quad Cities runners have been very welcoming of the new store to the community with many stopping in to the Elmore Avenue location to check it out. A grand opening celebration will be held April 1-3.

For more information about Fleet Feet Davenport visit http://www.fleetfeetdavenport.com/