There are at least five bike shops, all good, and an REI and a WalMart, within a 5-mile radius of my house. (This is even more remarkable when one considers that more than 1/3 of this 5-mile circle is Pacific Ocean. ) The shops tend to specialize somewhat to reduce overlap, with one catering definitely to the racing set and another to kids and families. Although I am an REI member, I do not consider REI to be a "real" bike shop, any more than WalMart is.

Since my newest bicycle is almost 28 years old and the oldest is 57 years old, I obviously have to buy many of my replacement parts on the eBay or elsewhere on the Internet. However, I do buy clothing, tires, and tubes locally.