Eric Johnson purchases Springfield location and converts to Fleet Feet Sports
Carrboro, N.C. - Fleet Feet Sports, the retail leader in building and supporting thriving local running communities, announces that longtime Ultramax Sports general manager Eric Johnson purchased the Springfield, Mo. store from its current owners, Mark and Amy Livesay, and converted the store into a Fleet Feet Sports. The transaction took place on Aug. 26.
The Springfield Ultramax Sports location opened in 2008 at its current location, 1254 East Republic Road. An original employee, Johnson first served as store manager until becoming general manager in 2013.
"Fleet Feet Sports has a 40-year history of creating opportunity for people who want to own their own business," says Jeff Phillips, CEO and president of Fleet Feet Sports. "In Eric, we know we have a strong and passionate leader who will continue to serve, build, and empower the Springfield running community along with his talented and dedicated staff."
The store will now operate under the name Fleet Feet Sports, a name reflected on its newly launched store website, fleetfeetspringfield.com. Incorporation of Fleet Feet Sports initiatives, including the brand’s nationally recognized No Boundaries 5K training program, its 60-day Happy Fit Guarantee, and its online store at fleetfeetsports.com, has already begun. The inaugural kick-off meeting for the fall No Boundaries program takes place at the store on Sept. 20.
"Working in a place where I get to make people happy every day is the best job I can think of," says Johnson. "I'm excited to see where we can take the store, and for the type of support and initiatives we can now provide to the running community with the power of the Fleet Feet Sports brand."
"This is certainly a bittersweet transition," says Amy Livesay. "We are happy to pass the store to Eric, who has loyally served the running community so passionately over the past eight years. We know he will continue to do wonderful things for Springfield, and we look forward to continuing to work with him and the staff through our Ultramax Race Events company."
Johnson is married to his wife Lissa, who works in accounting for a local electric cooperative. They have three young children - Gabriel, Grayson, and Lydia.
With the addition of the Springfield location, Fleet Feet Sports now has a total of six locations across the state of Missouri, with five stores located in the St. Louis area— Chesterfield, Des Peres, O’Fallon, South County, and St. Charles. Last year, Fleet Feet Sports acquired the Ultramax Sports location in Kansas City, Kan.
The leader in franchising locally owned-and-operated, community-oriented running stores, Fleet Feet Sports supports its stores from its headquarters in Carrboro, N.C. and celebrates its 40-year anniversary in 2016.
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