100% agree. bike shops need to stop trying to pick their customers, and just sell stuff to people who want to buy it. it's nice that some bike shops can function as community hubs, but there's way too many run by people like the author of this piece, who have the "i didn't get in this business to get rich" attitude and use that as a justification for treating "their crowd" well and being rude or dismissive of the others. I eagerly await the future where 90% of local bike shops have been killed off by online sales, because then i won't have to deal with the jerks who run bike shops.
i actually get nervous going into a bike shop in a new town, because i never know if they're going to accept me as part of their crowd. when i just want to buy a bottle of chain lube, that's not something i should have to think about.