The upbeat employees at Lombardi Sports actively participate in the same athletic pursuits for which they sell and repair gear and apparel. Customers who visit the sprawling, 50,000-square-foot sporting-goods store benefit from the staff's rich supply of first-person training insights and anecdotes about hiking, running, swimming, and other sports. As a hive for sporting wisdom, the store boasts attractions such as live tennis demos as well as camping-supply rentals that come with the sales team's recommendations for enhancing camping fun with bear-proof food coolers and extradurable bear-tickling sticks.

A community staple since 1948, Lombardi Sports began as a somewhat smaller purveyor of biking, skiing, and camping equipment. Still owned by its originators, the store's enduring success has enabled its involvement with local charitable causes, proudly supporting Susan G. Komen for the Cure's efforts to eradicate breast cancer as well as the work of Team in Training, an organization dedicated to curing leukemia and lymphoma.