wrote in message
oups.com...
At my local woodworking machine store, and at Woodcraft, it is the same
situation. If the good guys are there, you get better service, and I
will sometimes buy from them. But when the knotheads are there, I find
out what I want at their store and go search the net and have it
delivered to my office.


Strangely, I have found it to my advantage to have someone to look in the
eye when I have a problem. If there are others in the store, even better,
because I am doing two things which affect their business - taking their
time and giving the prospective customers a look at what they might expect
if they have a problem.

It's price point people that keep the impersonal big box places growing. Of
course, they soon find out that they don't sell many advanced tools, and
drop them in favor of the consumer-grade stuff the price point people want.