AUSTIN, Texas — Fleet Feet Huntsville has been named as one of the nation’s top running specialty stores for 2023, as voted on by customers in the last year.
Suzanne Swift, owner of the Huntsville and Madison locations, will accept the honor during an industry awards dinner Nov. 30 at The Running Event. The running industry’s biggest trade show is taking place here this week at the Austin Convention Center. Thousands of company representatives, distributors, retailers and news media are in attendance.
Swift said the two stores in Huntsville and Madison have 65 employees. The Huntsville store will celebrate its 20th anniversary in January. The Madison store is three years old, opening in 2020 at arguably the worst time in the nation’s history since the Great Depression. Despite that challenge, the store has thrived at its Hughes Road location near Bicycle Cove and continues to grow.
The Huntsville store last garnered the same honor in 2021, and has been a top store in previous years. Sixty-two stores earned the Best Running Stores honor this year. Among them are Pacers Running, Run Flagstaff, Big Peach Running Company and Brooklyn Running Company, among others. Public voting is conducted in spring and announced in late summer by The Running Event.
The awards program “recognizes and celebrates leading run specialty retailers across the U.S.” who “exemplify what makes run speciality so special.”
This year more than 12,500 nominations representing 500 U.S. stores. Recipients will be honored Nov. 30 at the industry ceremony.
