Profits & Passions : Frank Giannino If the shoe fits BY KEITH LORIA

Profits & Passions : Frank Giannino
If the shoe fits
BY KEITH LORIA

When one says Frank Giannino is a running enthusiast, it almost doesn’t do the man justice. He isn’t like former President Bill Clinton going out for morning jogs, he’s more like a real-life Forest Gump.

In 1979, at the age of 27, Giannino ran from California to New York and loved the experience so much, he repeated it the following year earning himself a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for the fastest crossing of America on foot, based on his average of 66.9 miles per day, from San Francisco to New York City.

“I was on my way up to the Boston Marathon in the spring of ‘78 and I stopped at the Bill Rodgers running center and I saw a book in his shop about a run across the U.S.,” Giannino said. “I picked it up and soon the idea of doing something adventurous became an obsession for me. That’s when the idea for the run came to me.”

During a run like this, a man has plenty of time to think and it’s no surprise that Giannino’s mind went to his sneakers more than once during the 46-day, 8-hour and 36- minute trek.

Maybe that’s why more than 25 years later, Giannino is the owner of a successful shoe-fitting and sporting-goods store in Middletown called Frank’s Custom Shoe-Fitting Inc. Who better to understand the importance of proper shoe fitting and optimal support than a man who saw America by foot?

“I turned my efforts into a business,” he said. “Has it been easy? No. But I have been around the athletic show business since 1981. I always felt it was a comfortable place for me to be--management, participation, socializing--I’ve always been very passionate about running.”

Prior to his shoe-fitting business Giannino was in and out of sales from 1976-1981. The opportunity to become partners in a short-lived store called Blisters came in 1982 and although it failed, it was then that Giannino knew that this was something he wanted to continue.

“Another opportunity came around and I have been a sole owner or partner in the shoe business for 20 years come May,” he said, with his wife, Michele, by his side for the last five of them.

Initially his business was called Frank’s Run-in Room, and then it expanded more into sporting goods and was named Orange County Sporting Goods.

“But people kept coming for the shoes,” the now 54-year-old said. “People tell you why they come through the door and we followed the word-of-mouth.”

So, he went back to catering to the custom-shoe fittings. As a career runner, Giannino understands the critical importance of a personalized fit to keep your feet and the rest of your body healthy. Although many runners take advantage of his skills, Giannino stresses that it’s not just athletes that can take advantage of the custom shoe.

“We make shoes for the whole family,” he said. “Most people I meet are wearing the wrong size and wrong type of shoe for their needs. No part of the body takes more of a beating than the foot. We believe in empowering our customers, so they better understand how a foot and shoe can work more efficiently together.”

For each customer that comes in to his store, Giannino fills out a shoe-fitting card with an accurate synthesis of measurements, which helps in choosing the best model of shoe for that individual. More often than not, it is recommended that a custom foot bed replace the innersole in the new shoe.

“Molding a pair of custom foot beds takes about 15 minutes,” Giannino said. “Custom foot beds are used to ensure that your qualified shoes will not only fit better, they’ll help you perform better, too.”

Although he’s not running competitively anymore, and he’s far from his heyday of running 200 miles a week, Giannino still gets out a few times a week for 3 to 4 miles. He also helped in bringing a world-class race to Middletown in the form of the Orange Classic.

Giannino knows that he made the right decision in sticking with the shoe business.

“When you can make someone’s pain go away, it’s a huge accomplishment,” he said. “That’s my favorite part, the intrinsic rewards you get along the way. The feelings you get when you help someone.”

Just imagine how fast he could have run through the states if he had his own custom shoes back in 1980.

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