Originally Posted by
Machka
A bicycle shop is just a business like any other. It is not a charitable organisation. Do you go out of our way to make your local clothing stores, book stores, electronics stores, jewellery stores, grocery stores, etc. etc. happy???
In the larger sense, you are quite correct. But I do see exceptions. There is a coffee-shop in town that people have gone out of their way to help. The customers wanted a coffee-shop badly enough that they went above and beyond.
I will sometimes go out of my way to throw business towards people whom I like, or towards stores that are convenient to my home. There is a hardware store three blocks from my home. I like that they are so close. I make it a point to go there for things when it's reasonable and convenient to do so. I bought my snowblower from them, for example, because they were close by. (Of course, it helped that they carried a decent brand).
Bike shops are in a strange business. They aren't just about selling bikes and parts. They also sell some sort of emotional component that they cannot charge for directly. Hence the often fanatical loyalty on the part of a biker towards a shop.