IRON MOUNTAIN, Mich. (WZMQ) – Having found success in Marquette and Houghton, Queen City Running Company has expanded its operations to Iron Mountain.
This week, Queen City opened a storefront at 426 South Stephenson Avenue, Suite 2. According to co-owner Kevin Thomsen, the company has been interested in setting up shop in the area for four years.
“We just had a feeling because Iron Mountain is a very active community,” he said. “All of a sudden, something popped up in Houghton. We opened in Houghton first, but we never left it off the table. This summer, we started looking for a place. The community got behind it… and then it was go time.”
The store offers shoes, accessories, and apparel from brands that have not previously been sold in the U.P.
“Anything you can think of for running, we’ll have it here or we can get it in a day for you,” said Thomsen. “Faster than Amazon!”
Queen City also provides fittings for customers and offers a 30-day guarantee on all shoe purchases. Thomsen says the store’s services and products are geared toward customers on the go, whether they are runners or not.
“If you’re a nurse at the hospital and you’re on your feet all day, come in, get fitted for a pair of shoes,” he said. “We’re really going to help take a lot of that stress off the body. If you’ve got an ongoing or chronic injury—by no means do we have letters after our last names, but we’ve been doing this a long time—we’re here to work with you and try to get your knees, feet, hips, back, everything kind of feeling better.”
Iron Mountain has given Queen City Running Company a warm welcome so far. Thomsen says the company would like to reach even more of the Upper Peninsula in the future.
Tentatively, Queen City’s Iron Mountain store is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The business often hosts runs and other community events, which can be found on the Queen City Running Company Facebook page.
