Runners outside Alex and Lily's Salisbury location, which opened a few weeks ago. Image: Facebook.
An entrepreneur and well-known Atlantic Canadian runner is hoping his new shoe store will bring some new life into the scarcely populated Brunswick Square shopping mall in uptown Saint John.
Alex Coffin will be opening Alex and Lily’s Shoe Shoppe on the first level of Brunswick Square, in the former Running Room location, on February 1. This will be Alex and Lily’s third location, joining its original store in Sussex and another in Salisbury that opened just a few weeks ago.
Coffin, a top marathon runner who has won Marathon by the Sea seven times, opened the store in Sussex two years ago when he saw a need for not just a place to get running shoes, but shoes in general in the town. He has experience running a business, having previously operated a similar shop, Alex Coffin’s Fitness Shop, which had locations in Saint John and Rothesay.
“I had taken a break from it and I was managing the Civic Centre up in Sussex. While I was up there I switched my store there and I changed the focus because based on my background I had always been very running focused,” said Coffin in an interview with Huddle. “Sussex forced me to expand what I sold and in doing so, it really turned a corner. I made a little bit of money before, but then it became really successful.”
Alex and Lily’s, which is named after Coffin’s daughters, sells walking and running shoes, along with everyday footwear like heels and winter boots. It also carries accessories like purses and swimwear. But Coffin said he will tailor the Saint John store to what customers want.
“I found in Sussex what really helped is I learned how to pivot better,” he said. “In Saint John, a lot of it will be bringing in a little bit of stock at first, but not fully stocking the store so we can get some feedback and see what people want to see in Brunswick Square.”
Brunswick Square has been a hot topic of conversation in the city over the last several years, with many tenants leaving and none taking their place – a situation Coffin said he’s aware of and hopes his new store could help remedy.
“I just think there’s a vibe uptown right now that I want to be a part of and I see Brunswick Square coming back,” he said. “It blows me away how bad it is right now with so many tenants gone. I think I will be very proud of being one of the players that come back in and brings some life back to it.”
Before it closed, the Brunswick Square Running Room was known for hosting running events uptown. Coffin said he wants to foster a similar culture at Alex and Lily’s by working with existing running groups in the city like the Saint John Trail Running Club.
“I want to be seen as supportive of those sort of efforts instead of competing with them,” he said. “I would love to have some running groups start from where we are in Brunswick Square. That would be awesome and that’s something I certainly did with my stores before.”
Coffin will be hiring around five staff for the new store. He said he’d like to open more locations throughout the province, particularly in smaller communities like Harvey and Shediac.
“I have big aspirations in terms of more stores in New Brunswick and a big part of that will be going to places might not consider if they’re from away,” said Coffin. “I know Saint John is not exactly a small town, but on the flip side, Brunswick Square is a place where someone from away might not consider because no one is in there right now except for a few tenants.”
Cherise Letson is the associate editor of Huddle, an Acadia Broadcasting content partner.
