My wife dragged me to a taping of The Ellen Show this week. Fortunately, the day was made better by knowing the Spot was 7.1 miles away from Warner Bros Studio. When we arrived, I wasn't even out of the car before I was already chatting with another customer about flyfishing the surf.
Once inside, I got good info on a technical line question, lovingly drooled over product I only ever see on line, and admired the related art on the walls. There was chatting about the SoCal stream conditions, El Niño, and more. My wife even made a purchase for an Xmas present for a certain fly fisher..
Point being---- support your local shop where you can. You guys that have a shop close by are fortunate indeed. Even at a 2.5 hour drive, it was worth it to bask in the atmosphere before facing an estrogen filled audience of Ellen lovers.