I really have to support internet shopping, without it I could not do the hobby of boat building, when you consider the number of items that is needed, working models in particular, and 30 minutes on the computer usually has all or most of the components on there way to you, and I have to say most of the companies I deal with cannot be faulted, most show when an item is out of stock and give some indication of when it will be in stock, but if one supplier is out of an item you can usually find it with another, yes postage is the down side, but is usually offset by the fuel getting to a model shop in another town, and like as not you come home empty handed anyway,
I've heard some say you cannot expect shops to stock every item that you might want, but that is exactly what I expect, if a customer is visiting a shop, any shop, they should reasonably expect that shop to stock whatever that shop would normally sell, hence the saying "my stock and trade" , no stock = no trade, I used to love the old model shops but alas when I do visit one, maybe in that particular town on another matter I come away disappointed