Urban Athletics

«UA has been community-​minded since the get-​go! They have the best grub during their various clinics, such as book-​signing, shoe clinics, post-​run cool down and much more. Please support one of the very few local speciality shops in town!»

Great brands! And no problem fitting my narrow foot.

Had a great experience here. The employees were very knowledgeable and friendly. We had previously bought sneakers at another store but will only return here moving forward.

Employees are scum bags. If you want to be helped in the store by a disheveled, homeless looking old man that stares at your girlfriend’s behind and chest, then go to this store. Have fun.

I can’t understand why anyone would write such negative reviews about this place. It is a gem. I only buy my running gear here because i get great advice on whats good, how to improve my running and the personalized service beats any web experience by far. It would be ashamed if great small business like this that actually care about the sport and the customers were to succumb to the internet or big business.

What better place for a running store than right outside Engineer’s Gate? This is a great store to pop into if you need gel for a long run, or need to swap out those old shoes. The staff is knowledgeable and friendly, there is always a sale and the shoe selection has something for every kind of runner. Also, make sure to check out their running groups which meet every Tuesday and Thursday night!

This place has been getting better
If you want good service, go on Sundays when the two oriental guys will be happy to help you.

Don’t try to push merch on me if I don’t want it. Don’t pretend crap is gonna sell out when you know I can buy it online. Don’t be a rude dick who knows nothing about sales and is just some schmo runner.
If you’re not in the business of listening to what your customers want, you’re not gonna be in the business at all.
For running dicks: this store is for you.
For everyone else: keep searching.

I started running about 18 months ago (and somehow I ran a marathon after 4), so in that time I’ve had to get two pairs of running shoes and I’ve gotten both pairs here. Why? Well, mostly because this is where I would meet up with my running group and I’m familiar with the store. Also, the first time I came here to get a pair of shoes, the guy (probably the owner) checked out my foot and whatever and figured out what kind of shoe would be best for me. After bringing out three pairs and trying them each out, I picked out the one I liked best because it felt like i was walking on clouds– they were indeed very good shoes. They were also quite expensive. I’m not known to spend more than $ 60 on a pair of shoes anywhere. But since I was training for a marathon and I was a newbie, I didn’t know any better. I really did like that brand, so I went again for the same kind of shoe a couple of months ago. I actually didn’t realize the store had closed (at 7pm– yeah, kind of early i think) because I saw some people come out of the store. Turns out they must have been part of a running group that just dispersed. But being a little past their closing time, the sales person there still helped me out. That was pretty cool.

I’ve been in this store 3 times. The first time, a few years ago, was uneventful. My friends bought running jackets. I didn’t find anything I needed.
The second time, last year, I couldn’t believe how rude — almost disdainful — the owner seemed. Especially as I was the only customer in the shop. But it was no big deal, and I like to support the locals, so I bought the pair of shoes that I’d researched ahead of time anyway.
The third time, earlier today, I accompanied a friend who was looking for running shoes. The owner wore the same look of annoyance as last year. It’s somewhere between, «Why are these pesky customers disturbing the calm of my nearly empty store?» and «Leave now.»
But the previous reviews have already established that the owner can be a bit of an ass. The reason I’m taking the time to write this review is that today the equally rude sales person outright lied — no, she wasn’t mistaken, she lied — to my friend in order to make a sale. (And the owner, standing a few feet away, seemed to condone this by his silence.)
They didn’t have my friend’s (women’s) size, and so the sales person tried to talk her into buying a «unisex» running shoe. (It was the men’s version of the Adidas adiZero Adiós.)
Now, like most runners, I’d no sooner wear unisex running shoes than unisex underwear. And anyway, these weren’t unisex — they were men’s.
In any case, we’d both had enough of being treated like idiots by the sales person and the glowering of the owner. So, we walked a couple blocks to the Super Runners Shop on Lex where — despite the crowds — we immediately found a helpful, friendly sales person and, most importantly, the women’s version of the men’s shoe that Urban Athletics claimed was «unisex.»

It’s been my experience both as a consumer and a business owner that people are far more likely to report a negative experience as opposed to a positive one. It is my humble guess that the patrons who have good experiences at Urban Athletics are too busy running and biking in the gear they bought there to log in to Unilocal to sing any praises (and I’m sure Jerry, Cara and their team on one level are thrilled for that!). Yet, given the level of care and courtesy I was given by both owners and their staff, I’m certain that they would have to wince when reading the reviews below mine, and they would have to wish that more customers who have GOOD experiences would take a moment to recount. So, that is why I am doing this.
I came to UA as a member of Team in Training, a fundraising arm through the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I’m not athletic at all by nature and without expert guidance I’d have a difficult time distinguishing a running shoe from a horseshoe. Luckily, Jerry hosted a gear clinic after the first Group Training Session last Saturday, complete with bagels, coffee and lots of advice. I was fitted for sneakers, walked through the basics of a good sports bra (and boy do I need one!) helped with picking out the right pair of sunglasses for biking– and even given some running tips, gratis, by Jerry, who watched me trot back and forth along Madison Avenue in shoes I hadn’t bought yet, giving me pointers on how to be a more effective runner.
As a post-​script to what was already pristine service: after a few trial runs in the Nikes I purchased, I noticed blisters forming on my second toes of both feet. I called Jerry, and he said, looks like your feet and those shoes aren’t getting along. Bring them back and we’ll fix it. And that’s exactly what happened. When I went back in, Jerry wasn’t there, but his associate Aneal (sp?) was, and he was great. Exchanged happened quickly with no problems whatsoever.
I empathize with the folks below who had a bad experience, and do not begrudge them their right to express their disappointment in the service they received. However, from my vantage point, it is hard if not impossible for me to imagine getting anything less than great customer support from Urban Athletics. 5 stars and I will be back.

Tear developed in new shoes 3 days after purchase (had worn them 3 times for short runs). They don’t have my size in stock, I leave the city before they can order them in… and they refuse to give me a refund. Unbelievable.

I’ve been in this store a couple times now, looking for the perfect pair of summer walking shoes or even, preferably, the perfect pair of flip-​flops — I walk absolutely everywhere, like a 6 hour round-​trip walk in Edinburgh in search of the best Scottish food, or a 6 hour walk from my apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan to Flushing, Queens in search of the best Sichuan food — hopefully I’ll even find a pair that’s good during the unpredictable rain-​showers of late and presentable on those odd occasions when I find myself out club-​hopping… I’ve been uptown and downtown, on the eastside and on the westside, looking for these ever-​elusive foot-​coverings…
The staff seems to give preferential treatment to people who come in wearing running-​gear… The first time I was here, waiting a few minutes, and then a woman comes in, apparently following a jog, and the man from the backroom rushes over to her offering assistance — maybe he knew her, but, still, it should be first come first serve — if he’d done his job correctly he could’ve made a sale before she even arrived in the store and then helped her — so I just walked out.
The second time I came in the place was jam-​packed with runners in shorts, they were all over the place, it took me a good ten minutes to get any assistance, and I actually had to ask three runners if they worked here or knew where I could find someone to help me before finally, finally, finally, I was asked what I wanted in an extremely rushed manner, I pointed at what I wanted, he ran into the backroom and came back saying «We don’t have that,» I asked for possibly a size larger, he sighed, he came back with a few minutes later, then I spent the next ten minutes trying to fight for a place to sit down so I could take off my shoes and try on these new ones — apparently seats aren’t for potential customers, they’re reserved for «the team» to place their bags and purses and bottles of water and sweaters upon… I tried them on, they looked and felt great, but after two unapologetic elbows to my ribcage and someone’s shoe being dropped on my head, I decided to just look for them online (where, maybe they’ll even be a little bit cheaper).
I dress very well, I’m presentable and respectable, I just can’t understand what the problem was, I have to assume that is was their problem and not mine… I won’t be giving them another chance.