Slingin' Shoes Episode Eight: Growing the Pie

14/10/2025 52 min
Slingin' Shoes Episode Eight: Growing the Pie

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Episode Synopsis

How much bigger can run specialty get?We entertain two points of view. Industry analyst Matt Powell of Spurwink River caused a ruckus recently with comments on LinkedIn saying the run channel was not growing because it caters only to “elites.” Co-hosts Chris Farley and Mark Sullivan press Powell on what he really meant and discuss why the channel’s growth has slowed after a decade of robust expansion.Our sponsor guest all the way from Japan is Koichiro Kodama, CEO of ASICS America. Kodoma-san talks about his life traveling between two continents, his love of specialty retailers and how he believes ASICS can help grow the pie for run stores.