I don't know if this is true for the bicycle industry, but in the car industry, a large dealer cannot buy cars from the factory for less money than a smaller dealer because the larger dealer is buying more cars from the factory. MSRP is the same but... "dealers can sell for less".
Nobody is averse to buying the same product for less money. This is why on line shopping has become so popular for such a wide array of products. If LBS'es have survived on line shopping, they can survive Walmart, like small electronic and camera stores have survived, selling the same brand products that are sold in Walmart because they can sell them for the same price. A Sony TV is no less at Walmart than the "LTVS".
But since buying a bicycle should be a personal thing, it takes personal attention to get it right, and that takes knowledgeable staff with the time to answer questions and make recommendations not only for the initial purchase but for the ancillary items to complete the package. And that's not exactly what Walmart is known for, the personal touch. That's probably why they don't sell suits.
And besides, people who shop at Walmart aren't elitist snobs, so there's no way an elitist snob could get his/her ego stroked by buying a 10K bike at Walmart...I mean they'd have to actually enter the store, ewww...unless they ordered on line that is...but even then they'd still have to answer to their clique when asked where they bought their bikes, and saying they bought it where food-stamp-collecting mouth breathers buy their BSO's would never do.
Ohhhh..the opprobrium...
