You paid a premium to buy from the store, for the privilege of being able to see the merchandise before spending.

Now, you can order it off of Amazon with one day shipping, after having looked at numerous high resolution color images, and probably a dozen Youtube videos as well, all to see if it is the product you want and need. And if it's not, chances are that it can be returned for a refund with little hassle.

They've nailed the ability to do the initial purchase online, and that's what would build loyalty for a specialty storefront, that's the one purchase where people often wouldn't dare mail order. That's the purchase where someone gives you word of mouth advertising.

This might even have been flipped on its head, where the stores that are still large enough to have survived until now have people coming into the showroom to see what they want, but then ordering the same model off of Amazon or where ever to get their volume discount. That couldn't have worked earlier, as the only company that might have the same products mail order was the same as the store front.

We live in an era where the only brick and mortars that could possibly survive are those that sell highly perishable goods (groceries) or products for which even next day shipping are too late (plumbing repair parts at hardware stores).