In all due respect 4liters what you are suggesting is more online stores more consumers. Motackles etc have buying power that smaller retailers don't, regardless a lot of tackle stores are setting up online stores to supplement their store incomes they are by no means making millions like motackle.4liters wrote:They'd employ even more people if they set themselves up with an online store and were racking up millions of $$ in sales like Motackle etc.
Forums, YouTube, blogs and social media have more or less made the whole 'local knowledge' thing redundant for a lot of people too.
The retail space has been changing rapidly since the early 2000s and the fishing tackle industry seems to have more than it's fair share of old school types who are unwilling or unable to change with the times. Even now I see plenty who would prefer to complain about the online stores rather than do anything proactive to improve their situation.
Forums, youtube etc are a good source of info but the tackle store still has its place for sure. The retail space has changed I agree but it's not always for the benefit of the community with larger corporations using their business structures to crush competitors i.e. Amazon. Personally I'm happy to support local retailers where I know the employees and they give me decent prices due to loyalty than purchase from a faceless company each to their own.