Thats a good strategy. I wanted a pair of Northwave shoes and went to every LBS for miles around and nobody carried them. I finally checked Northwave's website and found that Sports Authority (a huge sports store only a few blocks away carried them). I would have never even thought to look there. They didn't have the model I wanted, but I was able to figure out fit and size, then order exactly what I wanted online. Normally I wouldn't condone trying on shoes at a shop and then ordering them, but Sport Authority is a giant box store, so who cares.