Stories For Stickers: A Postcard Campaign
A few weeks before Uphill Running officially opened we started getting shipments of shoes and I needed shelving. So, my good friend Dave and I ventured up to Home Depot. I wanted the shelving to be different, but there are only so many ways to dress up shoe shelves. We walked up and down each aisle and when we finally found the shelving aisle we stopped. I looked at everything. Each time pausing for a moment to imagine how it would fit in the shop. Was it big enough? Did it feel warm? Would it match the store displays we already built? Should I just build something out of wood? How much weight can the shelf hold…wait a minute, how much do a bunch of shoes actually weigh? The list of questions swirled around like trash caught in an eddy of a fast moving river. Eventually, I settled on two shelves: one was a plastic shelf that cost less, and the other option was a black metal shelf made for car garages. The packaging boasted “Will hold up to 8,000 lbs!” Surely, a bunch of shoes can’t weigh that much. Seemed a bit overkill, but the plastic just felt cheap. In the middle of this drawn out decision Dave looked at me and said something that has stuck with me forever. It’s simple, it’s concise, and it fits the premise of the store: “Whatever you decide, Trey, make sure it says I’m here to stay.” Sinking to the bottom of the river and out of sight, all of the swirling ‘trash’ questions crumbled. Dave nailed it. It had to be the overkill “Will hold up to 8,000 lbs” shelving, but it’s not overkill. It’s image. It’s belief. It’s taking pride in Uphill Running.
The same philosophy, “Make sure it says I’m here to stay,” continues on with everything we do. So, when I was deciding on where to get stickers made I searched around to find a local sticker company and landed on Diecutstickers.com based in Seattle, WA. I shot over an image of the logo and Jerome got back to me quickly and we dialed it in. Instead of them shipping it to us, I decided to pick it up in-person. I got to meet Jerome, shake his hand and say ‘thank you’. It felt good. This week we received a hand-written thank you from Diecutstickers.com and it reiterated that I made the right decision. They took the time to skip the plastic and do more than what’s expected.
I posted a picture this week on my Facebook Page, about how great it felt to see one of the stickers on a car in a parking lot. The response from almost everyone was, “How do I get one of those?” So, the stickers are big, they’re vinyl, they’re UV protected and they definitely say, “We’re here to stay.” It’s not overkill. It’s image. It’s belief. It’s taking pride in Uphill Running. Obviously, we want you to have one, but we also want to get to know you. We want to hear from you, we want you to skip the plastic decision and do more.
We’re calling this campaign, “Stories For Stickers”. Here’s how it works, go out and get a postcard. Any postcard, or make a postcard. Make it creative, make it fun. On the postcard tell us a short story about your running: Why you run, where you run, a funny story about running…anything.
Mail the postcard to the shop:
Uphill Running 100 Front Street South Suite A Issaquah, WA 98027
Make sure to include your name and a return address because we when get your postcard we’re going to mail you an Uphill Running sticker. When you get the sticker show it off, put it anywhere you’d like, and share a picture with your friends (including us!). Want more than one sticker? Send us more than one postcard! Each postcard will be displayed in the shop so your stories can be shared with everyone that comes into the shop.
PS…Dave also said, “If anything, you now have shelving that can easily double as a bunk bed.”
