And Leo smiled, because he finally understood: the real alternative to Arena Products wasn’t another store. It was the ability to never need one again.
He closed the tab.
“Trail running. Obstacle courses.”
“There has to be another way,” he muttered.
Three months later, after a brutal 50K race in the rain, his pack got snagged on a barbed-wire fence. A six-inch tear opened along the side. He didn't throw it away. He drove back to Stitch & Steam.