New Venture: Brett Lamb

SAN FRANCISCO (Monday, March 27, 2006) - Brett Lamb had his sights set on owning the San Francisco Fleet Feet athletic shoe store years ago but it wasn't for sale. He settled for opening a shop in San Diego but that wasn't meant to be.
Last year the San Francisco Marina store became available and on January 2 of this year, Lamb once again became a franchise owner only this time in his city of choice.

"I definitely learned that it's not as easy as I thought it was," Lamb says of his first attempt at self-employment. "People don't just show up because I want them to. They have to be exposed to our business and believe in what we do and feel pride in shopping with us and that's something you have to build over time. I had this silly idea that I'd open a store that would have my name on it and people would like it. Maybe I was a bit arrogant but being in San Diego for that time was definitely humbling and that was something that I needed."

Lamb, 28, always knew that he wanted to make a career out of his passion for running. After graduating from college he moved to Austin to work for one of the country's largest running retailers, RunTex. He enjoyed his work but wanted to live in California so when a friend told him about a management opportunity for Fleet Feet, Inc. in Pleasanton he hopped to. After two years of managing two stores, Lamb felt ready to have a go at owning his own store so he took a loan from his father, packed up and went south.

"It just totally fell through," he laments. "It is a very expensive market. The rents are very high and there are two very strong competitors that have been there for a long time and I honestly didn't have the money to do it."

After admitting defeat, Lamb moved back to the Bay Area and was hired by the Fleet Feet, Inc. corporate office to work on new store development. He accepted the job with the caveat that if the San Francisco store became available, he would be let out of his contract. They agreed and Lamb was able to work with new storeowners, learning the dos and don'ts of athletic shoe retailing, until last year when Lamb learned of the availability of the Marina store.

Since finalizing his ownership, Lamb has been pouring blood, sweat and tears into the Chestnut Street shop. He works six days per week, half of the time with customers and half doing the administrative tasks that an owner/manager has to do.

"I wish I could spend more time on the sales floor because that's the most enjoyable part," he says. "You get to meet new people every day who want to talk about running."

Fleet Feet stores specialize in the personalization of running shoes. Lamb's staff is trained to watch customers walk and run, analyze the bone structure of their feet and make recommendations accordingly. Lamb says that being in San Francisco is a definite advantage to his business.

"There is significantly more people running, biking, exercising than anywhere in the country," he says. "Here, it could be 35 degrees and raining and there will still be people running around the street."
Lamb is often one of them. As a student, he ran competitively but now he admits to doing it more for his sanity and personal enjoyment.

"When I was in high school and college I trained and race and obsessed with taking two or three seconds off of my time but now its just thoroughly to enjoy it and let me kick back a lit," he says.


BUSINESS
New job: Owner/President of Zealand, Inc. doing business as Fleet Feet Sports
Last job: New franchise development manager, Fleet Feet Inc.
Employer: Self-employed
Number of e-mails a day: Varies from about 10 on a Saturday to 75 on weekdays.
Number of voice-mails a day: Fortunately we've got a couple of phone lines and I have a great staff that always catches the phone when it rings. I've never counted the amount of incoming calls that we receive on a daily basis, but I would estimate that we get about 20 calls per hour.
Essential Web site: www.FleetFeetSanFrancisco.com of course! www.nike.net is one of the easiest B2B websites for ordering products easily.
Best perk: The best perk has got to be that I can control the destiny of the store and my family's future. The second best perk has got to be all the free shoes I can handle. For someone with a "shoe problem," this is a great job!
Gadgets: I'm not a big gadget guy to be honest. I have a very basic cell phone and my PDA's batteries died over a year ago and I still haven't replaced them.
Education/credentials: BA from Baylor University
Last conference: Fleet Feet Sports National Apparel Show in Houston, TX
Original aspiration: When I was little I used to love going to the local sporting goods store to see the clothes and equipment. When I got to high school it dawned on me that I could make a career out of selling sporting goods. I planned to move to California and open a running store about half way through college. It's funny how things worked out six years later.
Compensation: Ask the IRS!!
Career objective: Expand on my one store. I'd love to be able to own multiple stores in San Francisco and the Bay Area. There are other business interests that I would like to eventually explore as well on the manufacturing side of the sporting goods and apparel industry.

PERSONAL
Details: Born: October, 1977; hometown: Adelaide, Australia; significant other: Kimberly Holt, fiancé
Sports/hobbies: Running (obviously), snowboarding, cycling and travel
Transportation: 2000 Saturn SC1.
Favorite restaurant: Bissap Baobab, an African restaurant in the Mission
Computer: IBM ThinkPad
Favorite clothier: Oakley
Vacation spot: Tahoe in the winter, London in the summer
Role Model: Richard Branson and Russell Simmons.
Quote: "If you are going to be able to compete at this level, you are going to have to out work everyone else." - Steve Gulley, my college cross country/track coach
Reading: "Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't" by Jim Collins
Worst fear: Failure is obviously an easy answer. But I feel like I've put a lot of eggs into one basket (my store). If I can't make this venture really successful, it will dramatically change my life.
Motivation: Proving people wrong and winning.

View all Fleet Feet Sports Press Releases

This article has been read 364 times.

Printer Friendly