Zappos.com did a little last minute sponsorship at the AFLAC Iron Girl Triathlon at Lake Las Vegas this past weekend. I managed to pull myself out of bed for the first time all week to help out at the expo. We asked Zoot Sports to come out and help represent Zappos as our vendor partner for this expo. Zoot is such a great company (even though they won't allow us to carry their running footwear yet - I know, low blow, but I had to say it!) with huge roots in Tri.

My athletic buyers and I here at Zappos are big fans of their story and product. Mike and Kevin, our representatives for Zoot, spent the whole weekend helping us out at the booth. Mike and Kevin are great guys and a lot of fun to hang around with. I love race expos. It's always great to get out there and hang with people in the industry and chat it up with the people doing the races...always cool and always inspiring. I wasn't feeling it this time around though. Being sick all week really put me in a lazy, pile of rocks mode. I really wasn't helpful at all during the expo - Thank goodness for Kelly, Gayle (Zappos.com Employee Extraordinaires) and the Zoot Sports reps being there!

During our trip out to North Carolina, we also had the opportunity to visit Thorlos' sock mill and the FEETures! Distribution Center and sales office. We had great meetings today - The people at these two companies, as well as the Wrightsock People, are all so hospitable - I mean, really really nice. If you're looking for a thick sock with great cushion, there isn't anything better than Thorlos - the love is all sewn in! If you're looking for a tighter fitting, well-cushioned sock with great arch support, FEETures! are a great bet (my wife loves the heck out of these - sometimes more than she likes me!).

We stayed at a hotel just off the freeway - right across the street from The Waffle House - Ohhhhh yeah! (You ever hear a couple of those Waffle House theme songs when you're in one of those places - Now that's what I'm talkin about! Their grits ain't bad either!).

I took off for a morning run (a little nippy) before we would hit up the Thorlos and FEETures! buildings. One time getting lost in an unknown town is good enough for me, so as a rule of thumb, I typically don't veer off the straight and narrow - out one way and right back in the same exact way. It was a nice little run - North Carolina is a really beautiful place. In any case, it was the first time I've ever run next to a freeway that crossed a railroad track, a fruit stand and one of those lots that sells antiques and stuff for your yard all in one place. It's nice to get in a run that somewhere and something a little out of the ordinary

The Coin Count

No love in NC - Nada today

Running Total: 42 cents

Carla (our sock buyer), Janelle (one of our customer loyalty representatives), Jay (our Product Info guy for Athletic) and I had a great opportunity to go out to Burlington, North Carolina, to see the life of a sock - Well, how a sock is crafted anyway. We were fortunate to go on this trip because of the good heart of the Wrightenberry Mills peeps. Tom Weber, our main man at Wrightsock (Tom R O C K S!), came to our ‘Treat your Feet Expo' (an expo we hold for our employees that gets them familiar with all the brands and products we have on the site) we had at Zappos the end of last year. Tom offered up a trip to NC for us and a lucky raffle winner - TOTALLY AWESOME and really, really generous - So, Thanks Wrightsock!

You have no idea how crazy the whole process of making socks is until you go to a sock mill. WOW! The machinery, the rolls and rolls and rolls and rolls and rolls and rolls and rolls of yarn, the amount of people that physically touch a good quality sock- All of it, absolutely unreal. Wrightsock is a double-layer sock that adopts the idea of two pieces of fabric that rub against each other rather than one piece of fabric rubbing against your skin AND it wicks moisture away from the foot - BLISTER FREE, and it totally works.

Just about our entire Zappos team used them for the JanSport 8000m Challenge last fall and I personally have become a HUGE believer in the product for running. Wrightsock Double-Layer Rocks!

What?!?! What?!?! WSA is wrapping up and we had our traditional meeting scheduled tonight with the Brooks boys. Rather than meeting at the hotel room as we historically have, dressed to the nine in suits and uncomfortable shoes that don't have any sort of cushioned, running, shoe-like technology, we decided to hold the meeting at the Zappos offices. Much more comfy!

We had this meeting with Rick, Dan and Jim, our representatives from Brooks (and some of the greatest guys in the shoe biz - These guys rock!). One of the coolest things Brooks has done for our buying team here at Zappos was last November when they took us to New York to check out the NYC Marathon and the Olympic Trials. It was a chance of a lifetime and we certainly were very appreciative of the opportunity! Rick had not been to our new corporate offices, so it was cool having him come in to check out the operations and the Zappos culture. We had preemptively scheduled a run after our business review (a good one, thanks to all you incredible Brooks and Zappos customers out there!) around the Green Valley area, but ran out of time, so we settled for our ‘on-time' appointment for drinks and dinner - don't be jealous!!!

We went to Battista's Hole in the Wall- a fat little Italian joint off the strip in here in LV. We love this place! If you haven't been there, try it out on your next trip here for sure! When you come make sure you make a point to see Gordy and his accordion - Good Stuff!
So to the Brooks Boys, as always, thanks for the evening and a little something from Gordy: "Where ya from!?!?!"