History
BRAINSPORT was founded in July 1991 by Debbie Harksen and Brian Michasiw. Brian's goal was to "have the best running store in Canada." The first years were pretty lean as major suppliers were reluctant to support a new venture started by two youngsters in their early twenties. Debbie and Brian did not give up and with the support of family and friends BRAINSPORT continued to grow a solid customer base. Suppliers recognized this and came on board. One of the key decisions that led to the survival of the store was the creation of the BRAINSPORT RUNNING CLUB. This gave local runners a place to meet twice a week to run together and socialize. These runners became some of our strongest supporters and customer base, spreading the word around the province and further, that BRAINSPORT is the place to go when you need running shoes and more.
Debbie left BRAINSPORT in 2004 to move to Edmonton and begin a family. She and her family then moved to Australia where Debbie continues to be extremely active competing in multi-sport events.
PEDESTRIAN SHOE FITTING CENTRE opened in 2004. While BRAINSPORT was carrying walking shoes and sandals, Brian noticed some people were reluctant to come to BRAINSPORT because they were not runners. PEDESTRIAN was opened with a focus on walking shoes, casual footwear, sandals and more.
Brian's dream of having the best running store in Canada came true in 2008 when BRAINSPORT was chosen as "STORE OF THE YEAR" by the Canadian Alliance of Specialty Running Stores ( now IRRC ). We were delighted to be chosen "STORE OF THE YEAR" again in 2009. While we can't always win the award our goal will always be to be the best running store in Canada.
