Wednesday, January 18, 2012

The Trail Store

I wanted to post something today about the Trail Store in Louisville closing.  I saw today on Facebook that the owners of The Trail Store are closing their doors.  That stinks.  

For those of you that don't know, The Trail Store is a locally owned business that specializes in all things outside.  More specifically, it focuses on outdoor fitness such as hiking, camping, trail running, and all that kinds of stuff.  It is very similar to Quest, which we also have here in Louisville.  Last year I got involved briefly with The Trail Store with one of their trail races, which I blogged about sometime in August I believe.  I was looking forward to running in their trail series again this year and actually doing all of the races they offer.  I was going to become a regular patron of theirs as I prepared for these races.  I've decided that I really like trail running and these guys were a local business that I felt I could relate to.  Unfortunately though it seems they just didn't get enough business.  The large chain Quest has won the market of outdoor activities and seem to be growing.  That's too bad because I am a big fan of local business and patronizing businesses that reinvest in the community.  The guys at The Trail Store seemed to do that.  Their running series was a great thing and they said they plan on continuing that this year.  I hope so.  That was going to be my main Forever an Athlete project this year.  Hopefully I can still compete in all of the planned races, it's just too bad I will have to go to some other store to buy what's needed to prepare.  

This is written not so much as a diary of my quest to be forever an athlete but more of my plead to support the things you like and support the locally grown small businesses of the community that make your community unique.  The Trail Store was that and I'm sure I could've shopped there more often for my sporting needs.  I should have and I apologize to them that I didn't.  If you have that business that is locally grown that you don't want to see shut down, make sure you visit them soon and show them how much you appreciate them and what they do.  The last thing you want is for them to go away and be stuck with the chain store that couldn't care less about you or the community.  

1 comment:

  1. Nooooo! Love that place. Did y'all know the owner is a former attorney who got fed up with corporate America, took a year off to run a few 100 milers (yeah, you read that right!), then opened Trail Store.

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