I headed over to New England last week to show the Fall 2013 collection to running stores with Oiselle super rep, Anne. Also is also known as Mama MacKay and Anne-imal. Yep, she's my mom. When I started at Oiselle I sent her some apparel. She couldn't believe stores in her neck of the woods didn't carry the line. Mama MacKay has been running since forever and she's a fastie. So she knows good running threads when she sees 'em. It didn't take too long before she was our NE rep.
My roots are on in the northeast. While I grew up here and there (North Carolina, Vermont, Colorado) from 6th grade until escape graduation I lived in Whitinsville Massachusetts, where I got poisen ivy often and swam at luxurious beaches with names like Pout Pond. No, really it was a cute little town and easy enough to head to Boston or Providence for a culture fix. And while only my father can claim to be a Vermonter (5th generation) they both grew up in Burlington. It was fun to come home and show the Oiselle line, something I'm so proud of you'd think I sewed it all myself.
I also got to live the rep life for a week. And damn...I have respect. We spent roughly 25 hours in the car over the course of a week. Flying in the red eye to Providence kicked the week off. My dad picked me up and we headed straight to Burlington. I needed to get a shakeout run, so we parked at McDonalds in Winchendon MA and I cranked a little 5 miler. Oof 2 hours of airplane sleep isn't good for the running.
The next morning I met up with @melpeabody (violet rundelicious) of #teamoiselle and Margo (fresh green rundelicious) and Amy (orange stripey) for an easy 4 miles at Shelburne Farms. It was great to meet Melissa! Margo and I ended up running the next morning too. She's super speedy and a lot of fun to run with. Amy can allllll the way down from Stowe for our Tweet Up run, she just had a baby. I know, right?! She's so fit. It was an easy group to run with, easy conversation, lots of fun.
If you're looking for Oiselle in Vermont, you have a few options and more coming this July! Currently we are carried in Onion River Sports, Oxygen, or if you're in Burlington head over to Women's Source of Sports. Nancy has been in the business of women's running clothes for year and years. The woman knows her gear. She was on Dorsett street but has recently moved south on Williston Road. Bonus: the store is right next to a massage studio. Two birds, one stone for sore runners.
Women's Source for Sports, @WomensSource
One of the new stores carrying Oiselle starting this August is Yogarama in downtown Burlington. Be sure to check out the threads AND the owner's adorable Frenchie, Chloe.
After Vermont we were off to meet Rebecca in the Cape for a run! I was so excited to finally meet Rebecca in person, she was one of our very first ambassadors, and a fan long before most of the world had even heard of Oiselle. I already considered her a friend, and she was just as warm and fun as her Twitter persona lead me to believe she'd be. :)
Rebecca is training for her second marathon, and let me tell you she's fit! I can't wait to hear how it goes.
If you're looking for Oiselle in Massachusetts, you've got options. Check out the Oiselle dealer locator. I visited Bayside Runner and GettiGear. Both great stores. If you've vacationed on the Vineyard you may be familiar with GettiGear, and now they have a location on the main land.
We also had a meeting with CitySports! I know many of you would love to see Oiselle there. The best thing you can do is ask for it! But we'll see, perhaps you'll see the line there soon.
After Mass we were off to New York! Upstate New York! We visited Fleet Feet Syracuse, they only carry the 50/50 tees right now but think Rogas and Knickers might be next. My favorite stop was Finger Lakes Running Company. They were so awesome. I basically posted up there for a few hours, sent the Oiselle email out, did a workout, had lunch... I moved in. Lisa is their buyer and she's a huge fan of Oiselle. If you ever find yourself in Ithaca check 'em out!
The trip was awesome, and an eye opener. If you love your local running store and want to support them while shopping Oiselle, tell them! Many dealers aren't as active as many of us on Twitter and may not hear your voices there. But they want to know what customers want... they might just operate a little more one on one.
Oiselle loves local running stores, we'd be nothing without them, and a good running store is more a place to shop. It's the life blood of the running community. So be sure to support yours and let them know what you wish they carried, they are ready to listen.
What's your favorite running store?
