Breakaway finds success going the extra mile

Small business spotlight for The Memphis Daily News & The Memphis News

Aug. 13, 2012

Breakaway Running is a small business with the steady, even stride it takes to endure for more than three decades.

Begun in 1981 by a handful of area running enthusiasts as an outlet to get their own gear and to accommodate the legions of Memphis runners, the shop has come full circle, having recently been bought by Barry Roberson, the shop’s first manager.

“The whole reason the store was open, those guys felt there were a few needs not being met and they loved running and I love running,” said Roberson, who has spent the past 19 years in real estate before delving back into the business of running. “We’re probably more runners, and always have been, than business people.”

Business minded or not, the store has prospered and grown over the years, moving locations in 2008 from a large house at Union Avenue and Belevedere Boulevard, where Roberson lived on the second floor in the beginning, to another Union location down the street. Further east, they’ve been at various locations with the current home being on Germantown Road.

“The trails are the reason we moved out there in Germantown,” Roberson said, referring to the nearby trailhead for the Wolf River Greenway and off-road trails. “That’s just proven to be great.” … (read more)