I'm with you stratman. There are 3 local shops selling various matter of highish to high end gear. One carries Paradigm, Def Tech, Klipsche and a variety of TVs as well as McIntosh, and they aren't exactly the most knowledgeable or helpful and I've never really shipped there much.
I also visited another local one for the first and probably last time this past Thursday. I went in and asked what bookshelf speakers they had in the $500-1000 range since I was just window shopping and wanted to hear a few things. The guy showed nothing but speakers in the $900-1000 range. He then insisted we listen to some cables so we did because I had nowhere else to be and I had never "listened" to high end cables. He continually tried to sell me (a graduate student) on $6500 cables.
Compare that to the shop I have purchased from before (and which gave me great deals) where the first speaker they offered when I asked the exact same question was under $500. They actually remember your name and face (and last time I was there in Feb or March they had $30k/pair Focals on the second floor so I'm at the low end of their clientèle). They don't push anything on you, they're very straightforward and honest and will give you their opinion (the two guys there don't always agree with each other which is sometimes amusing), but never try to upsell you on anything. They haven't once pushed any accessories like cables on me since they know I'm fairly knowledgeable but they will point out some good options like speaker stands and things that are affordable when they've got them.
Their business practices will keep me coming back, unlike the other shop. In fact I'll probably be buying some speakers from them in the next month or month and a half.
