Look out, wallets - the Zombie Runner store in Palo Alto, CA, is officially open! I stopped by the grand opening on Saturday to check out the wares, have a cup of Don Lundell's amazing coffee, and let Sophie wreak havoc on the new store.It makes so much sense to have a trail running store. Want to see which headlight gives off the right beam? Want to try out the latest Inov-8, La Sportiva, New Balance, etc., before buying them? Want to taste the latest flavors of gel and mix before committing to a case? So much of this stuff is hands on! Plus hear you can get the sage advice of the trail running staff.
In classic Zombie form, Don and Gillian (and team!) have made their store into a great hang out. As a former theater, the space is large and inviting. There's a nice sitting area with the latest trail running magazines, a full wall of DVD's to peruse, and more. We even got a full demonstration of the new DryMax socks. The real hidden secret to the store, however, is that Don Lundell makes the best coffee/cappucino you will ever taste. He has his own posse of local, micro-batch roasters that bring him hand-selected beans (also available online) which Don whips into a masterful brew topped with a perfect rosetta. My prediction is that this secret won't be secret for long, and the long line for the coffee soon becomes an area to convert new trail runners. ;-)
We could only spend 20 minutes in the store before Sophie had a meltdown, but I still managed to drop a few bucks on stocking stuffers, supplies, and some new winter gear. I will certainly be back regularly!
- SD
(It's hard to miss the former theater)
(Sophie hams it up before swiping a balloon)
They have a TON of great running shoes, including most of the Inov-8's)
(A comfy seating area next to the coffee bar)
(Got snacks?!? It's every gel, bar, and mix you can imagine)
Also do GREAT mail-order. I needed some new shoes- Inov8's- because mine were defective and I sent them back, and new ones were not coming in time to break them in for Quad Dipsea! So I called Don and talked to him about alternative ones, he shipped them off- got them SUPER fast! GREAT service!
ReplyDeletewill be doing all my xmas shopping online through ZR this year :)
ReplyDeleteREALLY wish i could come visit the store -- will do if i find myself in that neck of the woods
geez, if they open up a location in Los Angeles, I'd go broke for sure..
ReplyDeleteI took advantage of their grand opening sale on line as the drive from the east coast is just a bit far. The watch I ordered on Saturday was in my greedy little hands on Monday.
ReplyDeleteOmg, I had no idea the Stanford Theater was closed?!?!?! Wow, where have I been? I'm so out of the loop now that I live in the East Bay... But will need to check out Zombie for sure!!
ReplyDeleteWow - is that a gel taste bar? That could be very helpful. I always hate to find out that I don't like banana flavor when I'm 20 miles in and it's too late. I need a Zombie Runner in Denver.
ReplyDeleteNice to see the Hammer Nutrition stuff there! We have their products on our site and everyone loves them. I need to check out some samples.
ReplyDeleteMan, we need a Zombie Runner or a Rogue Valley Runners typed store in Maryland!
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime, I'll just have to continue to enjoy ZR online/mail order. Thanks for the post, and thanks/congrats to the Zombies!