Performance Running Outfitters take pride in helping customers get fit

Business owners Trae and Jessica Hoepner's work and personal life oftentime blur, but the pair wouldn't have it any other way.

The husband and wife team - and onetime competitive distance runners at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater - own Performance Running Outfitters in Brookfield and say they obtain as big a high from serving the community as they do from running.

"We get so much personal satisfaction from helping the community," said Trae, who also owns two other Milwaukee-area Performance Running Outfitters. "Seeing our customers meet their health and fitness goals really keeps us going."

Located in the Ruby Isle Shopping Center, Performance Running Outfitters markets to runners and walkers of all levels and abilities and features dozens of name-brand products, including Newton, New Balance and Nike.

According to Trae, Performance Running Outfitters' large selection and customer service approach separate the store from the competition.

"We're a one-stop, jack-of-all-trades shop, and no one else has everything we have to help people get up and running," said Trae, who plans on expanding the store to include an indoor track. "But we don't sell. Our staff is extremely knowledgeable about the running industry, so we just inform customers to the Nth degree, so they can buy shoes based on factors other than color or style."

The purchase process involves Performance Running Outfitters' thorough video gait analysis, whereby a customer is filmed walking or running on a treadmill to determine what shoe offers the best support for his or her foot.

Performance Running Outfitters also offers 5K, 10K and half-marathon training and organizes a number of fun runs and running-form clinics at Milwaukee area businesses and schools.

"Our goal is to get the community - especially today's kids, who have become a sedentary generation - moving again," said Trae, a track coach at Brookfield Central High School, where Jessica coaches cross country. "We want to do our part to erase the national perception that Wisconsin is not a fit state."

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JUST THE FACTS

BUSINESS: Performance Running Outfitters

ADDRESS:2205 N. Calhoun Road

PHONE:(262) 784-7989

ONLINE: performancerunning.com

OWNERS: Trae and Jessica Hoepner

INCORPORATED: 2006

TYPE OF BUSINESS: fitness

PEARLS OF WISDOM: "Do what you do and be the best at it."