I have to back @mstateglfr here.
IF the shop you like sells the bike you want at a price you like ... well,you are lucky. But what if it doesn't?
If the guy down the street sells a bike which fits me, has the build kit I want, and is at the right price, while my "favorite" shop doesn't have all that, why would I buy a bike which cost too much, didn't fit, and didn't have the parts I wanted?
By and large bikes at equal price points are going to be of equal quality---
but it is the little things...
The only local shop (no need to worry about variety when there is only one shop in town) has trustworthy staff and will gladly work on Any bike. But i didn't want to pay their prices or buy their products. No stress.
As I said above, the shop isn't making money on the bike, it makes money on the accessories and repairs.
Also, Jim from the Home of the Revolution, you have a two-decade relationship with the shop. Not at all the same if I walk into a shop. Idon;'t get to sit around swapping stories with the owner ... I meet whichever salesman is on duty. he doesn't know me, he isn't looking to steer me to any deals for me ... maybe for him. The owner isn't going to come out and say, "I have an awesome bike at half price that would be perfect for you," the way that shop owner did for you.
I could say, "Buy bikes at the same store for 20 years, so you can get a good bike," but that would be silly.
And in fact ... didn't you and your wife already own bikes when you first went to that store? After your honeymoon bike tour? So no matter how awesome your 20-year relationship with this guy has been, at some point you had to buy bikes, not pick a store .... and probably rode your bike to his store.
Shoot .... When I moved south, there weren't many shops in town and only one had been there 20 years (and I am sure still is.) Most of the shops there now have opened since then ,,, and a lot have opened and closed. So a guy compromises on the bike he really wants in order to give his business to a certain shop ... and five years later the shop goes out of business.
it ain't the old days---we are just relics of those days.
As mstateglfr points out, if you want a Corvette, getting a Mustang isn't going to cut it. Buy the bike you want, and then find the shop which treats you best and get all your parts and service there.