I have a few shops that I deal with and all are very slow this time of the year. The staff is pretty board since there are no repairs or sales going on. So it's a good time to stop in say hello and build a relationship with the staff. In the end you'll get some good information and quite possibly some better prices since when you do buy... after all, you're now "friends".

Many times, i've gotten "sale" prices when there's no sale or discounts off the list price without asking.