THERE are some cities where running is a part of the culture and competitive runners are an everyday visual presence. Boston is just such a city, with the world’s oldest marathon and a constant stream of runners of all ages and abilities pounding the promenade 24/7. Boston’s deep running roots fomented the formation of Tracksmith and made the city the obvious place to open our first Trackhouse on Newbury Street in 2017.

New York and London are cities with comparable – but unique – relationships to running and runners. Both host major marathons and both are home to huge, vibrant running communities, from record breaking sub-elites to grassroots movements like parkrun, which began in London. When the time came to export our Trackhouse concept to the world, New York and London were the obvious locations for expansion.

Located on Wythe Avenue in Brooklyn, and on Chiltern Street in London, both of these new Trackhouses take the blueprint of the Boston original, blend it with local DNA, creating two new Trackhouses that feel distinctly Tracksmith and uniquely of their place. 

“When we started scouting for spaces, we were looking for areas with a neighborhood feel,” says Russ Ashford, Tracksmith’s Director of Retail. “We wanted somewhere that felt lived-in with a community around and access to green space. And we wanted to surround ourselves with best-in-class businesses – that’s immediately apparent when you walk up and down Chiltern Street in London or along Wythe Avenue in Brooklyn. These are slightly quieter neighborhoods that blend retail and residential, so they feel homely, and I think we slot right in. Boston was the blueprint and the Back Bay has a similar vibe, in that retail and residential bump up against each other, and there’s great running on the doorstep.”

Access to great running was also a major factor when choosing locations for the new stores and in both London and New York we have some of the cities’ best running nearby. The London Trackhouse sits equidistant between Hyde Park and Regents Park, two of the city’s favorite Royal Parks, and is a short jog from Paddington Rec, with its free-to-use community track, which Roger Bannister famously used in the build up to breaking the four-minute mile in 1954. 

In Brooklyn, the New York Trackhouse is triangulated between McCarren Track, Williamsburg Bridge and the East River Track, and is home to many of the city’s most vibrant and passionate running communities. 

“The Trackhouse in Boston has become the cultural epicenter of the city’s running scene and that’s something that we knew we wanted to export to our other Trackhouses,” says Ashford. “There’s no hierarchy by VO2max – come one, come all.”

As is the case in Boston, both New York and London Trackhouses will be used as hubs for the local running communities, with lockers in New York where runners can leave a bag while they work out and a bag drop in London, and of course, weekly speed sessions and long runs led by our local Community Managers tailored to upcoming races, whether that’s the Twilight 5000, the Amateur Mile, or the cities’ marathons.

“Of course, it’s all about showcasing the product in the best possible light,” says Ashford, “but it’s also about that sense of community and getting to know us and what we stand for – we’ve assembled amazing in-store teams in both locations that reflect the local running community and the cities at large. We’re here to help people fall in love with running, and bring people together through running – having permanent homes in these cities is fundamental to that journey.”

“I’ve always admired the aesthetic that Tracksmith’s Creative Director Rafa Oliveira has brought to the brand – it’s the perfect balance of the classic northeastern American heritage with a cleansing modern approach,” says Bailey-Babenzien. “I adopted this direction with the interior design, combining classic materials that might be found in athletics clubs, such as  herringbone floors, walnut cabinetry and brass hardware. We juxtaposed this with graphic elements such as a terrazzo running track into the floor with brass inlays, solid walnut gym bars and the Tracksmith signature sash across the ceiling in navy. We made the skylight as big as physically possible & added plants and trees to give the sense of letting the outdoors in. We designed a space where friends can feel at home.” 

“We pay attention to every single detail in our product, photography, film and written output, and the same is true for the architecture and design of our retail spaces,” says Tracksmith’s Rafa Oliveira who led the creative direction of the new Trackhouses in both New York and London. “These are more than just commercial spaces, they’re a physical representation of the brand.”

Oliveira approached the project taking inspiration from the original Boston Trackhouse, but also thinking about the future and how the spaces will grow. “The oak floors are durable and long-lasting,” he says. “The walnut cabinetry, with its custom fixtures and modular display, are unique to Tracksmith, and the use of color is intentional and reflects our brand story. The purpose was to create a welcoming space that represented and conveyed what Tracksmith stands for.”

To help understand the demands of a Trackhouse, Matthews spent time in our New York pop-up during marathon weekend in 2022, covering 25k steps in a day on the shop floor as he ran back-and-forth to the stockroom.

“Having worked in a retail space for a day, you understand why spaces are planned in certain ways, and why stock needs to be available on the shop floor,” he says. “So for 50 weeks of the year, the store is very much designed to run in normal retail mode, but for two weeks of the year around the marathon, it has the flexibility to showcase and sell more product, and to engage people with those other activities associated with Tracksmith, like poster stamping and parties and events.” 

For Matthews, seeing customers engage with the new design is the ultimate reward:

“I was quite moved actually to see something we'd spent so much time on attracting 300 people for a run. Ultimately our work is about people, so the fact that 300 people turn up to experience a space, and for those people to engage with the brand on a community level, I think that is hugely rewarding.”

The London and New York City Trackhouses are open now, as – of course – is Boston. Come and visit – to shop, hang out, or to join us at one of our regular community runs. All details on the individual Trackhouse pages.