Would come down to price, in-stock selection, customer service, and employee knowledge for me. I really prefer to patronize a local business rather than order online, not just for the convenience of picking a part up vs. waiting for the mail, but because I like to keep my money in my own community - and have someone to go talk to if I have a problem with my purchase.

That said though, I've had hassle after hassle with several local shops - between waiting long periods after the promised delivery date for parts ordered, and just plain shoddy repair/service. Don't anybody take that the wrong way and go saying Dan says all the shops in the 757 suck now!! There are a few good shops in this area. If you say my order will be in or my bike is going to be ready at a certain time though - and it's not going to be - freaking call me. You have my cell number, so there's no reason to make me drive thirty minutes each way out of my way to tell me when I get to the shop. I do most of my own work on my bike, so if I bring it to the shop it's either really f'd up or I have no spare time to work on it - so don't waste what little time I have.

The couch/TV thing doesn't really have a whole lot of appeal to me. I'm always on the run and rarely have a minute to sit down, so if I do get a minute to rest I'm off to my garage to spin some wrenches. FWIW, I think the lounge thing is a cool idea in theory, but be careful about having a shop full of buddies and hangers-on that aren't spending any money. One cool idea I've seen in a shop in Richmond (auto shop called RPM on Broad) is an ice cream parlor in the shop. I rarely see anyone in there eating ice cream, but I'm also never there in the evening or on weekends. Cool idea though, he has a dedicated area in the back for the parlor and in the summer has a kid stand on the street in front of the shop advertising free ice cream samples. The magazine display is in the parlor, so I'd imagine he sells a lot of mags while people are lounging...just make sure they actually buy them!!

Location will be key too. You'll need to either put money into a prime commercial lease and signage where you'll pick up a lot of drive-by business or rent a cheap warehouse somewhere and put a lot of money into smart promotion and advertising. Something in between would probably be ideal - you need to be seen from the street, and be centrally located, but you don't want to have a huge lease to pay every month. On a side note, I can't believe nobody has taken over the old Lowe's in Kings Fork yet - that place would be a killer dealership. It's huge, close to downtown Suffolk and has a HUGE parking lot. It's gettin' run down now too.