I will play Devils Advocate here. So many people use the remaining bricks and mortar stores to audition a dealers wares, and then buy it on the Internet, that instead of perhaps considering them as retailers, some of them wish to be viewed as consultants. Think of them along the Financial Planners model. Some Planners charge a yearly fee based upon your net assets. Others base their fee as a percentage of the assets that they actively manage. Others charge a straight hourly fee for their advice, the same for Princes and Paupers. In this case, the audio dealer could argue that he is some sort of hybrid of these models.
Where this analogy breaks down is that a FP can discuss multiple products without having to physically demonstrate anything, a high end audio dealer has to have a physical product that we can listen to.
I would appreciate a dealer whose model is the following:
1) Charges a flat fee, for a defined time period (say, yearly) for their advice
2) will demo, as part of that service, components that they may actually have in stock, and charge the usual markup should you choose to purchase from the dealer (the dealer would presumably provide additional troubleshooting service above and beyond what the manufacturer can provide).
3) the dealer would provide access to many other manufacturers who can then ship components to the dealer for the customer to pick up and return to do home auditions.