Fleet Feet

Fleet Feet is a running specialty store in WaterSound Town Center offering running shoes, apparel, and personalized fittings with the help of knowledgeable staff. It is stocked for runners, walkers, and anyone who just wants a comfortable pair of shoes for logging miles on 30A’s paths, and the staff are trained to match customers with shoes suited to their stride, not just their size.

The Fleet Feet name goes back to 1976, when Sally Edwards and Elizabeth Jansen opened the first store in Sacramento, California. The company began franchising in the 1980s, and what started as an independent running shop grew into a nationwide network of more than 280 locations, each one franchised but still run as a locally owned and operated business rather than a cookie-cutter chain. A December 2021 acquisition of JackRabbit, then the country’s second-largest running specialty retailer, added 57 more stores across 15 states and brought Fleet Feet’s fit id 3D foot-scanning technology to those newly branded locations by early 2022. That local-ownership model is central to Fleet Feet’s identity, and it shows in the company’s mission statement, “Running Changes Everything,” a philosophy built on the idea that it is a privilege to help a community move, whether that means a first-time 5k walker or a marathoner chasing a personal record.

The Inlet Beach store describes itself as a local, family-owned and operated shop, and it leans on Fleet Feet’s signature fit id technology to get customers into the right pair. The process pairs a free 3D foot scan with Dynamic Pressure Mapping to analyze gait, then adds a hands-on consultation to match the scan data with the right shoe and gear for each runner’s goals, backed by the company’s Happy Fit Guarantee return policy for shoes that do not work out once you have run in them. Fleet Feet also brings that outfitting expertise into the community through its Workplace Fit program, which sends fitters to local offices, and a Medical Outreach initiative that partners with healthcare professionals to help customers manage plantar fasciitis, IT band syndrome, and runner’s knee. Beyond the register, the Inlet Beach store organizes a weekly Run Group that meets Sunday evenings at Idyll Hounds Brewing Company in Santa Rosa Beach, giving locals and visitors a reason to log a few miles together before winding down with a cold drink, and it runs structured training programs for runners working toward anything from a first 5k to a full marathon. A sister store in Panama City rounds out this small local family of Fleet Feet locations.

According to her own professional profile, the WaterSound-area store is owned and operated locally by Misty Ehret, continuing the brand’s founding philosophy that a running store works best when it is led by people embedded in the community it serves. For visitors who forgot to pack proper trail shoes, or locals looking to join a training group before a 30A race, the Fleet Feet at WaterSound Town Center is worth the stop before heading out to log miles along the coast.