Exclusive: RunOn! Expansion Plans

In the past 18 months, Dallas-based running store RunOn! opened four new stores, setting a strong pace of openings to penetrate the DFW market. The latest is a 5k SF store in Preston Ridge in Frisco. We're ready to grab our Fitbit and earbuds and hit the Katy Trail. (Of course, our run ends with a beer at the Katy Ice House.)

Venture Commercial partner Larry Leon (far right with his team working the RunOn! deals, Ross McCook and Charlotte Cooper) tells us this location at 8300 Gaylord Pkwy is the chain's ninth in North Texas and third to open in 2013. (They're making it that much harder for us to come up with excuses not to exercise.) The Frisco location is in the big 800k SF Target-anchored center across from Stonebriar Mall and doubles the size of their normal stores, which have tended to take end-caps in smaller prominent, quality strip centers close to major road traffic. Co-tenancy has been less of a consideration than being close to busy streets.

While it's unsure just how many more stores RunOn! plans to add, the store's ownership is interested in growth, Larry says. Being close to an athletic club or jogging trails is one of the unusual site criteria that the company desires, when possible, Ross tells us. The chain is somewhat of a destination retailer and the locations have been enormously successful to date. Despite a somewhat fragile economy that varies from week to week, Larry says he's seeing new retailers and restaurants continuing to pour into the market. There are many new fast casual restaurant concepts entering the market with exceptional food, good price points, and attractive interiors, Larry says. That's probably the hottest niche in the country today, he tells us.