Why Coffee Shops Are Launching Running Clubs (And How It Supercharges Loyalty)

2 Min Read | 499 Words

It feels like every new coffee shop has a running club attached to it these days, right?

As more niche cafés pop up, some growing faster than anyone expected, there’s one trend they all seem to share.

A running club.

Now, I won’t pretend this excites me. I hate running. But from a business point of view, it’s a brilliant move. Even when it’s not intentionally designed as a business strategy, it ends up functioning like one.

🧠 Fun Fact:
Runners drink 34% more coffee on average than non-runners, according to several sports-nutrition studies. Community runs don’t just build loyalty… they build latte sales.

Fostering Community

Running clubs are after all, well, clubs.

By definition a club is “an association dedicated to a particular interest or activity”.

When a coffee shop has a resident running club (whether inhouse or sparked by customers) it becomes an engine for building community.

By giving customers a reason to gather around a shared activity, the shop creates soft links between people. These are light, low-pressure social connections that don’t require deep friendship to be meaningful.

Humans naturally seek these small moments of belonging, and when a brand becomes a place where these moments happen, it earns a place in the customer’s psychological landscape.

This in turn creates a social positive experience that customers begin to associate with the coffee shop itself. This ultimately increases brand loyalty.

Increasing Life Time Value 

When people feel connected to a place, they return more often and they return for reasons that go beyond the product. A coffee shop with a running club taps directly into this behaviour. The routine of a weekly run naturally builds habit formation: runners meet up, finish their route, and then stay for a coffee, a snack, or even a post-run catch-up. Over time, this creates consistent foot traffic anchored not in impulse, but in ritual.

These rituals compound. Customers who feel part of a community are more likely to choose the same shop over alternatives, even if another café is closer or cheaper. They are also more open to trying new menu items, attending events, buying merchandise, and recommending the shop to friends, all small actions that collectively increase their lifetime value.

From a psychological perspective, people tend to place emotional value on the spaces where they experience belonging. When those positive social moments accumulate, the coffee shop becomes part of their identity. And customers rarely walk away from places that feel like part of their identity.

The Bottom Line

Running clubs might look like a simple wellness trend, but for coffee shops they function as one of the strongest brand builders around. They create community, spark soft social connections, and give customers a reason to show up consistently. And the moment customers start showing up for more than the coffee the shop becomes part of their routine and, eventually, part of their identity.

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