On Jun 27, 1:15 pm, catzz66 wrote:
There is a new Performance store moving in right across the freeway from
my office. Should I be happy?

I've been pleasantly surprised to find my local Performance store (and
a new one at that, not an old one with years/decades old stock on
hand) stocking something that's not in their catalog or web site, but
was exactly what I needed for a bike project (specifically I wanted a
high rise, short reach, 1" quill stem). The usual response from most
of the other local bike shops is "we don't have it, but we can order
it for you!", which in many ways is the worst of both worlds (the wait
of mail order, without the delivery convenience, but at LBS marked up
prices). There have been a few exceptions though where I took the LBS
up on their offer and things worked out well at comparable cost to
mail order.

If you buy stuff from them whether mail order or in-store, having one
close by is obviously convenient for returning stuff as needed rather
than having to pack it up and mail it back. If you're afraid of them
putting your favorite LBS out of business, I haven't seen it happen in
my area, where the LBS's within walking distance of Performance are
doing just fine. Those LBS's happen to be good shops. I suppose they
might drive bad shops out of business, but that's not much of a loss.

Unfortunately, the store doesn't have a lot of their catalog/web stuff
in stock, and you can't order by phone/web and have it delivered free
to the store (like you can with REI), though you can use their in-
store "red phone" to order such things without delivery charge, but
that's kinda inconvenient.