Travel Adventures: Timing the Harvest Days 5k/10k in Britton, SD, and Family Fun in Aberdeen8/19/2024 By: Greg Koch Recently, my family and I took a trip to northern South Dakota for a timing gig with 605 Running Company at the Harvest Days 5k/10k in Britton, SD. Britton is a wonderful community that consistently reminds me of how truly special our state is. For this event, we partnered with Marshall County WOW, an organization whose mission is to promote health and prevent obesity, particularly in children, through wellness programs and opportunities in Marshall County, South Dakota. I've had the privilege of traveling to Britton for several years now, and it’s a trip I always look forward to—not just for the work but because my family loves exploring the area. If you've never been to Britton, it's located near the North Dakota border, surrounded by several beautiful lakes and plenty of wide-open spaces. The drive is about 3-hours from Sioux Falls. This time, I traveled with my wife Chelsea and our daughter Violet. We decided to stay in Aberdeen for the weekend, with me commuting to the race early on race day. Aberdeen, also known as the Hub City, holds a special place in our hearts, and I’d like to share a bit about why we love it so much. Having a 5-year-old daughter means that Storybook Land at Wylie Park is a must-do adventure for us. This was our third year visiting the park. We've camped at Wylie Park before, staying in the fantastic cabins available for rent, and we’ve also tried out various hotels. For this trip, we chose to stay at the Holiday Inn and Suites. With summer temperatures soaring to 96 degrees on Saturday, the hotel’s indoor water park was a big draw. The water park includes two hot tubs, a zero-depth play pool with fun features, and an amazing body slide with more twists and turns than your usual hotel water park. After wrapping up my work at the race—Britton is about an hour from Aberdeen—I returned in time for our visit to Storybook Land. Some might call this park a hidden gem, but for those in the know, it’s a must-do summertime adventure. What I love most about Storybook Land, aside from the free admission, is that the food and ride passes are reasonably priced. The park is perfect for little kids, and the staff does an excellent job of regularly adding new attractions while keeping the older ones safe and clean. I can’t praise this park enough. Additionally, I've done a complete 180 on my feelings about The Wizard of Oz. As a kid, I was completely terrified of the movie, but now, thanks to my daughter who embraces the scary (one of her all-time favorite movies is A Nightmare Before Christmas), I’ve grown to appreciate it. After reading the book with her and watching the movie a few more times, I can officially say that I’m a fan of The Wizard of Oz. As I mentioned, it was hot during our visit. We spent a solid three hours at the park, including a quick bite for lunch. When the heat became too much, we returned to our hotel for some swimming. One of the great things about Storybook Land is that it stays open until 9 PM during the season, allowing for a long break in the afternoon heat and a return to enjoy more rides, slides, and fairytales in the cooler evening hours. I could go on and on about the many great things we’ve discovered in Aberdeen, but I’ll end with a must-stop treat: the Twist Cone. For those interested, you can check out the race results here.
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By: Greg Koch As a race timer for 605 Running Company, I’m lucky to travel across the state, exploring different communities and their unique offerings. Recently, I had the pleasure of timing the Big Sioux Rec Trail Race at Big Sioux Recreational State Park in Brandon, South Dakota—a beautiful area just a short 5-minute drive from Yogi Bear's Jellystone Resort. Despite living in Sioux Falls, my family and I hadn’t considered a stay at Yogi Bear's until our 5-year-old daughter, Violet, came home from a summer care program field trip, begging us to camp there. Her excitement was contagious, and this weekend provided the perfect opportunity to time a race and fulfill a 5-year-old’s wish. A Scorching Hot Weekend The weekend of our stay, July 26-28, was a scorcher, with temperatures soaring above 94 degrees each day. You can imagine our relief when we discovered that the tent sites at Jellystone Resort included power hookups. We are traditional tent campers, but with overnight lows at 72 degrees, the fans we brought were lifesavers. An Array of Activities What truly impressed us was how much this resort had to offer. Passing by on the interstate, the first thing you notice is the massive jumping pillow—a thrilling attraction for kids, even if it gave us parents a few heart palpitations! We also enjoyed a round of mini golf, but the highlight for our family was undoubtedly the pool, which provided a much-needed escape from the heat. We were also pleasantly surprised to find an air-conditioned recreation barn offering a variety of indoor craft activities. We spent some quality family time creating ceramic projects and tie-dye t-shirts, which turned out to be a huge hit with everyone. To top it all off, the resort hosted a Mardi Gras-themed weekend, complete with a Saturday night DJ dance party for the kids. The festive atmosphere added a special touch to our stay. A Staycation That Felt Like a Vacation Even though we were just 10 minutes from home, our stay at Jellystone Resort felt like a true vacation. In addition to the pool, we were thrilled to discover the Picnic Basket food truck conveniently located poolside. As this was a working weekend for me, it was a treat to let someone else handle the cooking. The quality of the food exceeded our expectations, and we also made use of the camp store, which offered a variety of treats, groceries, and Yogi Bear swag. We had such an enjoyable time that we’ve already booked a return trip in October, this time with my parents in tow. My Mom and Dad will experience the pull-through, full hook-up camper site while my crew will stay in one of the camp cabins. We’re also excited about the fall activities, including a corn maze, that the resort offers. Based on our summer experience, we’re confident it will be another great weekend. Your Turn! Have you ever visited Yogi Bear's Jellystone Resort in Sioux Falls? What was your experience like? And what are some other local gems that deserve a visit? Let me know in the comments below—I’d love to hear your recommendations! Race Results for the Big Sioux Rec Trail Race: You can check out the race results here: Big Sioux Rec Trail Race Results. By: Greg Koch Just over a month ago, I wrote a blog post that gained significant attention. Since then, multiple local businesses in Sioux Falls have closed, including some that had been part of our community for decades. This is truly sad news and highlights the urgency of my message. To be clear, I'm not begging for business; I'm asking to earn your business. I'm asking people to take the time to visit our stores and other local businesses, including our Downtown neighbors and friends at The Bridges. Despite the impact of my previous post, I was stunned to receive a donation request from a large, financially successful corporation for their fundraising campaign (I guess that viral post wasn't as viral as I thought). Additionally, I’ve received requests from animal shelters, youth sports teams, and various social service groups—all within one month. This is the norm for a small local business. Everyone wants a pound of flesh. The needs of our community don’t stop because business is struggling. As a local business owner and community member, I want to support every cause that approaches me, but we need to keep our donations with our chosen event partners and maximize our support to the organizations that have trusted us to support them. Believe me when I tell you when it comes to volunteering, donating, fundraising, and supporting this community we punch well above our weight class. 605 Running Company operates two locations, open 7 days a week from 9am-5pm and later on select days. Our products are available online with in-store pickup and shipping options. Through effective business deals, we’ve signed below-market-rate leases and efficiently balanced our staff and operating hours between both locations. We’ve also spent countless hours analyzing our inventory to keep our stock room tight and clean. We employ quality staff and pay them market rate or above. The armchair tropes simply don't wash here. We are doing everything we can to succeed in Sioux Falls. Our core values are transparent, reliable, and fun. While delivering fun has been challenging lately, we continue to strive for it. In the past two weeks, we offered three demo experiences with top brands Hoka, Altra, and ON Running, yet saw less than 25 participants in total. There was a time when over 100 participants would show up for a demo run. These experiences are free and often include swag, deals, clinics, classes and opportunities to try products without buying them. Simply put, we are not seeing engagement. I love this community, but the times have changed. It seems priorities have shifted and what we offer doesn't appeal like it used to. Unfortunately, more local businesses may have to close before the tide turns. This isn't an idle threat - check the local news and you'll see that local businesses are hurting. Just today, I got a note about a local boutique calling it quits. I believe, as it relates to our business, that this is a consumer choice matter. Our brands are seeing record sales (specifically, Hoka and Brooks, our top two brands), yet we are struggling to maintain profitability. This would indicate that consumers are choosing to purchase these products locally from a different source (box store, online outlet, or direct to consumer websites). We truly are the little guy taking on large corporations. I remind my managers and staff that there is no plan B for me personally. I’m doing everything within my capabilities to keep 605 Running Company open and thriving. These are the darkest hours of our business. We’ve enacted a scorched earth policy regarding future ordering, meaning fewer brands and less selection in styles and colors. We simply cannot afford to offer more merchandise that doesn’t get purchased locally at a decent margin. Even if we make it to 2025 the effects of this down year will be felt for the next 13-15 months in our shops. What makes us special isn’t the product; it’s the service and the people. What we have to offer is for everyone, not just runners. Your support is crucial now more than ever. We thank all our loyal customers for their continued support in July. It was a great month for cash flow, but our business still struggles to be profitable. We cannot sell at a discount and expect positive accounting results. Please keep sharing our message, like and subscribe to our social media channels (including YouTube), leave a positive review on Google, tell your friends about us, and shop local as often as you can. At the very least show up to the FREE things we offer so that we know that our community still has a beating heart. We can do this. There is light at the end of the tunnel for us. I'm always optimistic about what this community can do when challenged. Currently, we are seeing more folks shopping as we prepare to go back to school. My challenge is for you to give the local shops a chance to earn your dollars. A pair of shoes, a sweater, stationary, anything from a local store even the smallest purchase makes a huge difference. Thank you for your continued support. Dear Customers and Supporters,
Thank you for your incredible support throughout July. Your engagement with our articles and in-store visits has been heartening. However, we did experience days with one or fewer transactions at our Bridges location. While July was successful overall, we need to make some changes to ensure sustained growth and better serve you. New Store Hours Effective August 1st, 2024 To better manage our staff, optimize our budget, and extend our availability, we are updating our hours as follows: The Bridges:
Group Run Experiences We are shifting our focus from a regular schedule of group runs to hosting special group run experiences. This means you can look forward to events enhanced by product demos, registration events, special sales, and event promotions. These experiences aim to provide more value and excitement for our running community. Suspension of the Run605 App After much consideration, we have decided to suspend the Run605 app. While it was a unique way to connect with you, our data indicates it’s not being utilized enough to justify the cost. Rest assured, our rewards program will continue both in-store and online, and you will not lose any accumulated rewards points. Rewards points can be converted to gift cards on our website. Our website will remain a robust resource for connectivity and shopping. Ongoing Commitment to Community Events We continue to support our community with events like the 605 Trail Fest, 4.37 Community Run/Walk, Trick or Treat Trail Race, and the Gobble Wobble 10k. Our back-to-school programming is also in full swing, and we’re excited to keep timing local events throughout the region. How You Can Help Our retail business is the engine that drives our community support. Here’s how you can continue to support us:
Change is never easy, but we believe these adjustments will help us serve you better and continue growing. Thank you for your loyalty and support. Warm regards, Greg Koch 605 Running Company [email protected] 605-951-7982 By: Greg Koch
First and foremost, thank you for the overwhelming support for my last post. It wasn't easy to write, but the response has been incredibly humbling and supportive. I want to provide more details today because our business, and many other local businesses, need your sustained patronage. Here are a few points to expand on from my previous post, especially relevant as Amazon Prime Days approach. Supporting Local Businesses I would be willing to bet you've heard this phrase, “A rising tide lifts all boats.” My call to action is to give local businesses a chance to earn your dollars. At 605 Running Company, we know that running can be intimidating. Yet, the benefits of a healthy running community are vast. Did you know about seventy percent of people wear the wrong size shoe? The running shoe industry is huge, and even if you're not a runner, being well-fit for shoes is beneficial. This is why we exist. Additionally, some of the most popular brands in fashion got started in running (Hoka, ON, some brand with a famous logo ....) now is your chance to see the next trend and shop with us at 605 Running Company. During the pandemic, there was a strong push to support local businesses. Has this engagement faded in just a few short years? Early responses to my viral post suggest no. Many retailers have thanked me and reported an uptick in business due to the coverage. Shopping local stimulates economies and supports the American dream. Shopping local is a cultural shift that shapes a community. Online Shopping: The Local Alternative to Prime Days Yes, online shopping impacts markets, and the convenience of next-day delivery from giants like Amazon is undeniable. With Prime Days here, it's tempting to make purchases there, but I'd like to remind you that many local stores, including 605 Running Company, have robust online platforms that offer similar conveniences. You can shop our inventory and our vendors' products with options for in-store pickup or shipping. Supporting local businesses online still counts as shopping local (as long as you make those purchases on our sites). When you purchase from 605 Running Company’s online store, you support a local business that contributes to the community, rather than sending your dollars out of state or even out of the country. Here’s how shopping local online helps:
As a special thank you, we’re offering an online coupon worth 15% off purchases. Use the code "LOCAL" at checkout on shop.run605.com to save. Rent and Expenses Every business owner will tell you that rent is too high, but it's a part of doing business. Our top three expenses are rent, payroll, and cost of goods. We signed up for our rent because we believe in the value we offer. The point of my editorial is that not enough people are choosing to shop locally. Even the smallest purchases at local stores make a big impact. Politics My conversation is about choice—where we choose to spend our dollars. There's a place for politics, but not at the running store. After ten years in business we've operated under multiple administrations at every level of government. Truthfully it hasn't made much of a difference who is in office - retail business is hard work. Our retail struggles are not about politics but about community support. When folks choose to shop local, the entire community thrives. Isolation and Community Support In my previous writing, I shared feelings of isolation. Many local businesses feel the same. For those feeling isolated, The Helpline Center offers valuable resources, including the 988 number. You are not alone. Positive Outlook and Future Plans Customer Experience: We train our team to create a welcoming environment and offer solution-oriented service. To that point we are also working with Downtown Sioux Falls to create a unique secret shopper program. Our store recently was named a 2024 Best Running Store winner by The Running Event. This included a study on our wages, benefits, community support, and a national secret shopper program. We are committed to service. Community Events: Registration is open for the 605 Trail Race Festival. Soon, we'll open registration for our 4.37 Community Run supporting the 437 Project, our Trick or Treat Run supporting The Special Olympics of South Dakota, and the Gobble Wobble 10k supporting The Banquet. The Future: Our stores future remains uncertain. What I can tell our readers is that I personally don't have a Plan B other than 605 Running Company. That being said I cannot risk further financial hardship on my family to fulfill a business vision. These coming months are critical for our future and that means our sales have to be strong to survive. Because I'm not one to just call out problems I've got a list of action items every reader can partake in. Call to Action
This business and this community mean the world to me and to see both thrive is my goal. Sioux Falls is truly a great place to live and to work. I know times are difficult for a lot of folks. We are not looking for handouts, business advise, or marketing gurus. We just want the opportunity to sell you shoes, clothes and gear from great brands. Thank you for being part of our journey. Let's work together to ensure 605 Running Company remains a vibrant part of our community for years to come. |
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