I was agreeing with you until you got to the friend and field comments. Friendship and business should be seperate. I help people at the field, and I expect no compensation. Why should a hobby shop owner, who also flies, expect that people who ask him questions at the field also buy from him? If I was friends with the owner of the LHS (it's not that he's unfriendly, I just don't know him that well), I certainly would support him, but not if the "cost" of that friendship was an extra 25% on all of my purchases. I also would hope that he not expect that I buy all my stuff from him because of our friendship. Personally I would not ask, or expect, that he discount MY purchases because of my friendship. OTOH, if he offered a discount, I certainly would accept.

I don't get to spend rainy Saturdays at the shop drinking coffee and chatting with the guys. My hobby time is limited to flying, some building, and some shopping. If I'm not doing one of these things on that rainy Saturday, I'm spending the time with the girls (wife and daughter) at home or somewhere else.

Personally, I find that in today's marketplace I spend much more online than at the LHS. Part of the reason is that before I buy something I research it. Most of the research is done online at vendors selling the stuff, on Google, or here at RCU. By the time I've figured out I want something, it's just a couple minutes more to push a few buttons and order it. Alternatively, I would have to drive 30 minutes each way to the LHS to get it, if he had it in stock. If it was not in stock, I'd have to call him to order it and then wait 1-2 weeks for the item to come in. If I'm going to the trouble of ordering it, it's most likely going to be online.

Now, if my LHS had a way to order things via the web, at prices similar to other online vendors, and then I'd go pick them up when they arrived, I'd probably steer more business his way. He'd also benefit, cause I'm sure I'd come home with a few more "must have" items that I found while visiting the shop.