I was yanking your chain, I get customers all the time that compalin about some flaw in the bike, that only occured after they started messing with it(Or failed to even lube the chain for six months of rain riding) A guy this weekend was all pissed about this annoying squeal on his "new" bike. There were rust lines running down the chainrings and derailleurs. He had had it since spring and had not lubed it once.
How long has it been? The bikeshop bikes, even the really cheap ones, are all pretty good now. Probably the worst thing is the brakes are not as easy to adjust, the concave washers usually are tweaked from being asssembled so tight, there is some post flaring and the adjuster screws appear to be ramped on their ends(You get it almost dead even, turn the screw just a touch and suddenly the thing is WAY off again.
The other problem is packing, they often get scratched up.

I have talked to the reps about traditional frames to no avail. Specialized had some nice Columbus Foco road frames that would have flown out the door except they were compact. They even had oldschool paint jobs. They also rode great, but the guy that wants steel, wants tradition.
I will have to wait until I have a Bowery in hand before I lay judgement on it. Giant is pretty good on value for the dollar. And that often makes the difference. We have the KHS and it looks like a track bike, but we also have the Langster and it is cheaper, with brakes, so we sell more of them.