As a small business owner, my feeling is that most saw shops are putting themselves out of business. To keep my business operating well, I get extra training, research my area, keep up to date, have the best gear, keep in contact with my peers, try to go the extra mile, am aware of what my competitors are charging and most importantly stay passionate about what I am doing. The day I lose that passion will be the day I move into another industry.
Having said that, I find it hard to get so much as eye contact from most dealers. I live in Sydney Australia and have yet to find a dealer that comes up to 'adequate'. M expectations are not high. I'm knowledgeable about my gear and know how to strip, rebuild and effectively troubleshoot saw problems. I have vac and pressure testers, compression testers, pullers, multimeters and know how to use them all. I'm familiar with the parts numbering scheme of the gear I use (stihl) and usually know the number of whatever I need before I go to my dealer. I find myself in that situation because all the dealers in sydney dont even know that parts exist unless you tell them the number. They dont carry stock except of the most basic items. I occasionally find myself telling them about a new part (HD2 filter, stihl RDR chain, lite bars etc etc) and giving them the part number and the cash.
I'm happy to keep my local (and by local I mean almost anywhere within a 50km drive of Sydney which has a population of over 2million people and is the largest city in aus) business operating but it just isn't worth it. I'm writing off pretty much the entire country of australia in saying this. Prices are usually double, triple or more than prices stateside. Small parts prices can be up to as much as 10 times more. Despite the extra cost, dealers have very little or no knowledge/support. The saddest thing, is that I can usually buy a saw, or a part from the states for 1/2 the price including shipping, and receive it in less time than it takes to order it from my local dealer. Ordered some stuff from baileys last week and received it in 4 days (!). Ordered an RDR chain from my local dealer and it took 3 weeks. The price of the chain was more than double the cost from the states and takes longer. They didnt even know the chain existed.
If you have one of the (very) rare dealers that knows his stuff and either stocks or is willing to stock what you need then support him. I'm happy to pay up to 30% extra for that service. Otherwise, let them go broke. It's not like you'll be missing them anyway. I spend around $8k a year at my local dealer, which is about 1/4 of what I spend on gear annually. What I buy form them mainly is bar oil, spare parts, rolls of chain, helmets, PPE, 2 stroke mix, rakes, ropes. I buy all my saws and some of my parts, books, cd's, climbing and rigging gear from the states. Nobody at my local dealer even bothers to give me the time of day.
Shaun