RUNNING THROUGH THE IMPERIAL CITY

In 1981, opening a sports store focusing on just one type of product was an innovative idea. It came to Manfred Xhonneux, founder and owner of the Runner Shop in Aachen, while strolling about the SPOGA sports trade fair in Cologne. “A store selling sports shoes only – I couldn’t let go of the concept,” says the now 74-year-old.

One year later, the doors of the Runner Shop opened in Aachen, on 20 November 1982 at Neupforte 16. In 2001, the store moved to the other side of the street, and the sales area could be expanded to 120 square meters. Since then, the Runner Shop has been located at Neupforte 15 – with a wide range of running shoes and other running equipment.

Manfred’s journey into running began when he opened his store. “I had very little contact with running before,” he says. But to better understand his customers, he started running himself and developed a passion that has stayed with him to this day. Manfred became addicted to running and was soon training five times a week. He started at his first marathon in London in 1985, followed by Frankfurt and Berlin in the same year, where he finished with a personal best of 2:44:33 hours. “This experience helped me enormously in my career. In short, to understand and offer advice to runners, I became one myself,” says Manfred. And that worked perfectly.

At the Runner Shop Aachen, individual advice takes center stage. Manfred and his team ensure that every customer finds the right running shoe. The consultation begins with a precise analysis: “First, we ask the customers to take off their shoes, and we look at their orthopedic condition while they stand still and see if we can detect any abnormalities. Then we ask questions about running habits and any problems,” explains Manfred. On this basis, the running experts at the Runner Shop Aachen select a potentially suitable pair of running shoes and let the customer try them on. To select the right pair and provide the best possible advice, Manfred and his team take a lot of time beyond their day-to-day business, spending many hours on their own specialist training and continuous professional development.

The fitting is followed by the practical test. Instead of on a treadmill, the shoes are tested directly outside the store to see how they feel when running. “You always run a little differently on the treadmill,” says Manfred. Often the first shoe is already convincing, but the team tests other models until the customer is satisfied. “It’s important to us that the customer realizes why we have chosen a shoe for them. The decisive factor is a good running sensation, the customer has to feel comfortable in the running shoe straight away,” explains Manfred.

True Motion running shoes have been part of the product range at the Runner Shop Aachen for over five years now. “We wanted to be there right from the start and included the first True Motion shoe straight away,” says Manfred. The Aachen native has known the True Motion founders Gert-Peter Brüggemann and Andre Kriwet for over 35 years in the industry and initially tried out for himself how the U-TECH^TM technology works. “I need to know whether and how a running shoe works,” he explains. This is the only way Manfred and his team can find the right running shoe for every runner.

“Some of our customers who previously only had limited movement due to knee or Achilles tendon problems are now running pain-free again in True Motion running shoes,” reports Manfred. Today, the Runner Shop Aachen carries all True Motion models – including the new U-TECH Aion 3.

The Runner Shop Aachen is known not only for its individual advice and decades of expertise, but also for its commitment to the local running scene. Since 1999, the team has organized an annual charity run in which around 1,800 runners participate. To date, over 350,000 euros in donations have been collected – a result that demonstrates the store’s close ties to the region and the running scene.

“We don’t sell, we advise,” emphasizes Manfred. This attitude characterizes the entire store. Every customer is looked after individually, and the aim is always for him or her to leave the store feeling happy about running.

If you run in Aachen and the surrounding area, are looking for new running shoes or new running equipment and appreciate individual and personalized advice, the Runner Shop at Neupforte 15 is the right place for you. True to the motto: RUN LOCAL, BUY LOCAL.