After operating almost exclusively as a direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand for its first decade, Tracksmith, the Boston-based brand pairing an unmistakable New England prep school aesthetic with premium materials and a sophisticated vibe, is pushing deeper into the wholesale game. 

In 2024, Tracksmith invested in wholesale-focused staff, including hiring a director of wholesale, entertained prospective accounts at The Running Event in Austin and, most significantly, rebuilt its product creation process to better align timelines with the needs of wholesale partners. At the close of the year, Tracksmith’s products were in nearly 50 U.S. doors and brand leaders expect the company’s wholesale business to double in 2025.

Tracksmith founder and CEO Matt Taylor recently chatted with Running Insight about the brand’s calculated journey into the wholesale arena.

Taylor insists wholesale and selling to run specialty shops was always a part of Tracksmith’s plan. At the onset, however, e-commerce offered the path of least resistance for a startup apparel company. “You can set up a website and start selling product and create a brand quicker and with less investment. So, we did that, but the vision and the plan was always that running is very community driven, it’s an activity people participate in the real world and there are still going to be people wanting to touch and feel product.”

Tracksmith did a “teeny bit” of wholesale business in its opening year, but Taylor quickly learned his fledgling brand was not set up to deliver as necessary. “We didn’t have the resources, the infrastructure, the economics and the timelines that allowed us to be good partners.” 

As 2024 approached, Taylor says Tracksmith was eager and better positioned to grow the brand’s business and build awareness, especially with its expanding footwear lineup. The brand debuted the Eliot Runner in late 2022 and will drop its second model, the carbon-plated Eliot Racer, later this month. “Wholesale provides an opportunity to get into markets in which we wouldn’t open our own [Tracksmith-branded] stores. It’s going to bring in a new customer, but it’s also going to give our existing customers another touchpoint.”

Right as the time seemed for increasing Tracksmith’s wholesale presence, Taylor nevertheless clutched some concerns about a deeper move into wholesale, like how stores would present and discuss the brand on the sales floor. “We care deeply about our own brand and you lose a little bit of control [with wholesale]. You don’t get to walk the shop floor every day, fiddle with things and make sure everything’s looking sharp and exactly as you want it.” 

That is one reason Tracksmith has intentionally kept its wholesale roster tight. A smaller collection of wholesale partners allows Tracksmith’s wholesale staff to make more on-the-ground visits. It also enables Tracksmith to carefully select partners who understand the brand’s marketplace positioning and embrace a heightened focus on apparel in their retail shops. To that end, Tracksmith has created special places in some stores featuring fresh paint, fixtures and a product presentation aligned with Tracksmith’s brand story. “It’s early days for sure, but that seems to be working.”

Beyond product presentation, Taylor was also concerned about his brand’s ability to meet the needs of wholesale partners. “It’s one thing if we’re late on a delivery to ourselves. It’s much different if we’re late on something to dozens of partners depending on us. It adds another layer of stress to the operations side of the business that we didn’t have with just e-commerce and our own retail business.” By investing in Tracksmith’s wholesale team and processes throughout 2024, Taylor has Tracksmith prepared to “get more product out into the world in the right environments” now and into the future.

Taylor is committed to taking wholesale slowly, sustainably and thoughtfully at Tracksmith. “We’re in toddler phase here and we don’t anticipate a hypergrowth scenario. I mean, the nice thing about being an 11-year-old DTC business is that we don’t have that pressure. Wholesale’s a piece of the puzzle for us and we’re going to do it the right way.”