Originally Posted by
seypat
He said Lowes was their biggest customer nationwide, so they get a cheaper price.
Tell him you'll sue him for violating the Robinson-Patman Act. It is not commonly enforced, but that is actually illegal in the US.
As to Shimano: if they can sell 1,000,000 Walmart special groupsets with a margin of $1 each, and 5,000 Dura Ace groupsets with a margin of $100 each, they're making more money at Walmart. And nobody shopping for Dura Ace is looking at Walmart but the reputation of "pros use this brand" will rub off a little bit the other way. Everybody who cares knows it's an entirely different product, nothing is being diluted.