Fats make me relive Married with children I work in a small mom and pop running apparel store. We don't sell Nike or Adidas, and mostly offer actual running shoes. I've fitted countless hams that are "trying" to get into running... Or moving for that matter.  And in retail/customer based jobs we put on a fake smile and give you our recommendations for you. Our store does a gait analysis, asking you to do simple things, such as lifting your pants past your ankle walk a small distance and doing a one legged squat.(Fatties make excuses of losing balance and or saying their ankles hurt when they lose balance) It's a legit way to see if you pronate/supinate and whether your​ arch collapses. If your local store had you running on a treadmill and they film your gait, it's pretty much a gimmick for you to trust their recommendations. I tend to some times feel like Al Bundy when I size a beast of magnanimous size a full size and a half from what they squish their Beetus hooves into and they REE like no other saying it just doesn't feel quite right. I have to slowly and enunciate clearly that if you are planning on beating your hooves that support your weight which quite frankly for some an immense undertaking in itself to just stand even a svelte runner will have some splay as they run long distance so a good rule of thumb is to have a thumbs width of space from your longest toe to the tip of your shoes box. If you have tight shoes you don't give your feet enough room to pump blood and it'll pool and cause rubbing which can cause friction loss of toenails and black toes.  With my explanation, some still want to fit into their desired size. As if a smaller shoe size equates a tinier waist.  We try our best to give the customer based on their preference the best that we have in stock.  For most people we rarely have to  bring out more than 4 shoes, and try to even cater to their budget. Fats go 8+. Joke that they aren't really runners ... Yea, I can tell, you're breathing heavily just trying to tie your shoes. A lot of the time I'll have fitted them for a shoe, they like the feel and they ask me to write down what it is or they'll snap a pic of the box. When that happens I know I lost a sale and immediately lose all interest in helping them. Since I know they'll probably try to find it cheaper online. More money to spend on BeetusI don't get paid a commission on shoes, but a good portion of great shoes are​ running  specialty shops only. When I have someone asking about form or how to stick with being active I'm really supportive and actually want people to succeed. So I'll tell them that our store is really active with the surrounding community, we do fun runs, we have a run club, and making new running friends will ultimately keep you off your couch and on the pavement, although, I prefer trails. I'll get a few people into the club, but mostly those are the ones already fit.  Also if you have any questions about running shoes in general ask away tl;dr Fats make my job rather unfulfilling. watch more married with children.