I just got back from a trip to my LDS, I actually have two that are about 5 miles apart from me. I live in the southeast corner of Kansas and other than the local dive club to get air fills, there's nothing to look at and touch ( possibly my favorite thing about a LDS, being in the certification process still ). I have to go to Joplin, MO to visit these shops which is about a 40 minute drive from Pittsburg. Joplin, some of you may know was torn apart about 2 years ago by a f4 - f5 tornado that traveled down the center of the major shopping areas. The way I see it every penny I spend in Joplin helps someone recover from this horrible storm.
Also, after spending a little bit of time at both shops today looking at regulators I got the very basic "need to know" information from one shop that sells Scubapro. The other shop sells Aqualung, Apeks, and Atomic gear. Going to the second shop, the owner pulled out the three most common regulators that he sells put them on the counter and sat on the "customer" side of the counter with me going over the specs, differences, and pricing of each one. He took the time to make me feel comfortable, as well as answer all the "newbie" questions I had. He also did the same with the dive computers and gauges.
I told myself going into the hobby that I would try to spend money at both shops because pricing is honestly a little better to me at the first shop than the second. But the second shop has me sold on just about everything other than the occasional rental. I think I will get the majority of my exposure protection from shop number 1, but the bulk of the gear (except my BP/W) will be coming from shop number two. I've also have two of everything to purchase/rent so they made a good choice today.