I feel your pain, man. Why just yesterday, I ordered a couple of USB-to-serial adapters and a null modem cable from Amazon, at a cost of about a third what Best Buy or Staples or Office Depot wanted (who uses serial ports anymore ??). July 8, said Amazon. OK, said I.
This afternoon, as I was backing out of my garage, I spotted a box on my doorstep. Delivered. A day early.
sure, Amazon has everything, but nothing beats a good browse folowed by a triumphabt march out of the store with the purchased book in hand for reading that same day.
I'll settle for next day, at a third the price. On the other hand, the distinct lack of calorie expenditure during the shop is not good for my health ...
Problem is, the brick and mortar stores probably won't have what you want, but if they do, you'll waste a lot of time going from store to store looking, and then they'll overcharge you.
I remember going to a Barnes and Noble just a few years ago and trying to find the latest Ann Coulter book. They didn't have it (!) so I went to Customer Service and asked about ordering a copy. They said that would be no problem -- they'd have it in 3-4 weeks. My jaw just dropped. I said, "Do you realize this is the number one seller on Amazon.com? And you don't have it in your store? And I can get it from Amazon in two days? But from you I can get it 3 to 4 weeks? How are you people planning to stay in business?"
I think B&N has probably wised up a little, but brick and mortar stores face serious competition from online stores.