Shopping in East Ridge

Louis Priddy’s love of pounding the pavement led him to found Running Factory II—the previous incarnation of Front Runner Athletics—in 1982. Over the next 15 years, the business blossomed until Louis changed its name and built a new 4,000-square-foot location to accommodate its expanded inventory of shoes and athletic apparel.

In 2001, Louis passed the reins to avid runner Chad Varga, who has carried on Priddy’s legacy by ensuring that his customers’ shoes not only fit on their feet but also accommodate runners’ individual arches and manner of jogging. To achieve this, Chad and his staff conduct free comprehensive gait analyses, guiding guests—who are often referred by local orthopedists and podiatrists—toward shoes that match their foot shapes and habits of running on the sidewalk, on a track, or on hot coals. The store’s wide range of men’s and women’s shoes from the likes of ASICS, Adidas, Mizuno, and New Balance help the experts find the ideal pair.

For more than 30 years, MurMaid Mattress has culled an extensive arsenal of mattresses from both top-brand manufacturers and from its own, onsite factory. The shop has garnered the title of Best Mattress Store from readers of the Chattanooga Times Free Press multiple times. At seven locations throughout the Tennessee Valley, its staffers navigate sprawling showrooms that brim with memory-foam mattresses and adjustable beds from brands such as Serta and Tempur-Pedic. It procures its inventory directly from such manufacturers, working to keep its prices affordable and to ensure no under-the-bed monsters were damaged during travel. The store's immense stash of products also includes MurMaid Mattress’s own creations, assembled at an onsite factory affixed to the Cleveland location. Staffers produce custom, made-to-order mattresses from materials used by national brands.

From stocking pink booties to supporting the pink ribbon cause, breast cancer, with a portion of their proceeds, the Thrift Warriors staff tends to a wide range of needs with low-cost resale apparel and merchandise. The selection at any given time might include Banana Republic jeans, Abercrombie T-shirts, sofas and loveseats, kitchen utensils, and a robot from the future that can tell you where the best sales will be in the year 2356.

Declared a 2011 finalist for the area's Best Mattress Store by readers of the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Mattress Outlet has culled an extensive arsenal of mattresses from top-brand manufacturers for more than 30 years. At eight locally owned locations throughout the Tennessee Valley, its knowledgeable staffers navigate showrooms that brim with cushy memory-foam slumbering surfaces from brands such as Serta and Tempur-Pedic. The staff procures the store's inventory from top manufacturers, who have partnered with Mattress Outlet for years, working to keep the prices affordable and to ensure no under-the-bed monsters are damaged during travel.

Santa Richard Bonnington first stepped into the shoes and red suit of the holiday celebrity in a 2003 production of Miracle on 34th Street. Since then, it's been Santa all the way: he's appeared as Santa at corporate children's parties, accompanied gift donations to charities, and added holiday cheer to nursing homes. He's been the full-time mall-Santa for two different malls, is the official Santa of the local Toys-4-Tots program, and holds a degree in Santa Claus certification.

At The Book Gallery's two Nashville-area locations, savvy staff members point readers toward fiction, comics, and nonfiction titles available in hardcover and paperback at discounted prices. Thousands of kids' and young-adult fiction selections provide more educational entertainment for moppets than playing video games or rearranging PB&J sandwiches into alphabetical order.