Sports
From Garage to the Top: Keep Running's Business Model
Igor Santos details the strategy of betting on technical content, escaping the 'tab war,' and creating a 360° hub in São Paulo.
Born in the digital space through the hands of Igor Santos and his wife Bel, Keep Running transformed specialty running retail in Brazil. By moving from a garage to a comprehensive hub on Sena Madureira, the brand combined technical content, brick-and-mortar retail, physical therapy, and strength training to build the running community.
Unlike most traditional sports retail chains that started with physical storefronts and had to adapt to the internet, Keep Running took the opposite path. Founded with the clear mission of expanding the running ecosystem in Brazil, the brand began as a strictly digital operation and established itself by focusing on the top tier of performance products.
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From digital content to garage leadership
In the beginning, the operation was run out of the garage of founder Igor Santos and his wife, Bel. Between checking inventory, packing, customer service, and dispatching orders, the company doubled in size year after year. Its major competitive edge in the digital space was not predatory price competition, but rather content creation centered on technology and product experience.
By meticulously detailing the specifications and innovations that manufacturers released to the market, Keep Running gained organic relevance and caught the attention of both brands and consumers. Even while operating on a lean scale, the store took the revenue lead among specialty running retailers in Brazil.
Escaping the 'tab war' and moving to brick-and-mortar
Upon identifying that the specialty running market was still proportionally small compared to the vast number of runners in parks and streets, the challenge arose of drawing more athletes toward high-performance gear. In e-commerce, competition often boils down to being 'just another open tab' fighting over discounts, which limits brand-building and customer relationships.
The need to create a tangible, consultative experience motivated the transition to brick-and-mortar retail. The initial idea of opening a roughly 1,000 sq ft (100 m²) street-level store gave way to a far more ambitious project when the brand found a spacious property on Rua Sena Madureira in São Paulo.
The 360° ecosystem on Sena Madureira
Rather than setting up just a traditional store, the space on Sena Madureira was designed as an integrated hub for runners. The goal was to establish multiple touchpoints with amateur athletes, regardless of their training phase or specific needs.
Beyond showcasing technical products, the facility brings together complementary services such as specialized physical therapy with Dr. Anaira, podcast content production, and strength training based on VBT (Velocity-Based Training)—a velocity-driven methodology applied to high-performance athletes, such as those at Esporte Clube Pinheiros. In this way, the brand supports runners from their first training sessions to chasing personal records in marathons.
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