High end stores closing do you really care

A harder question but on the same topic: What would you think manufacturers have done to contribute to this down turn of closing HE stores? Or are they helping to reverse that trend?
Most HE manufacturers go with the flow by creating more gear to cater not only 2-channel HE but also multi-channel crowd as the market trend dictates. Certainly some reputable HE manufacturers do not want to see their stuff sold on the internet but some would be careless.

the most effective way of minimizing dissatisfaction from an audio purchase is a home audition.

many "high end" stores do not allow this. visiting such stores and listening there still leaves a bisk risk that buying without a home audition will be a mistake.

when stores of this type close, there is not much loss.
when stores who permit home audition close, it is a loss.

I'll admit I'm not in marketing, but it's always struck me that the manufacturers are as much to blame as anybody for the plight of the B&M stores. If you don't live in a major metropolitan area, you can't possibly see and hear all the gear you might want to consider, and the manufacturer's enforce this tight, and ultimately small, dealer network.

I have no idea what the demographics of high-end audio buyers is - it makes sense that it's boomers, but boomers are also the ones who are currently at the age where one has discretionary money, so maybe when current 20-somethings are middle-aged, they will spend bigger $$ on audio. Even if they do, though, I don't think it will be in the model of high-markup, personalized attention B&M.

The model has to support a customer who has done their own research, doesn't want to pay all the overhead of a B&M store, but is willing to pay for "optional" things like the equipment being brand new, a warranty, a home audition, etc. If you're just going to sit in your B&M storefront and charge me full retail, I'm just not interested.

The stores in my area are 1) open to home auditions but don't carry the gear I want to hear, 2) closed to home auditions but have the gear I want, or 3) have more of the gear I want but want an appointment to survey my interests. I bought an amp that I could have gotten from dealers 2 and 3 over the internet for half the retail price and only a couple of months old, but overall, I regret not buying from dealer 1, so what am I all about?

Hi-fi is only one of many industries going through this issue. Clothing, furniture, sporting goods, and many others are experiencing the need to change the way they do business due to on-line sales. Things change, and new generations have different "first" thrills compared to the ones we had. I understand Brucephan's remorse over the loss of brick and mortar stores. My first visit was 34 years ago, and I will always remember the "experienced audiophile" salesperson who helped me pick out drivers for my first DIY speakers that got me through college and beyond (they still work). However, technology changes and the information available at the touch of a keyboard is astounding compared to even 10 years ago. Because of the collective information and reviews available electronically, you can learn much more about a potential purchase than you could have from a single sales person 20 or 30 years ago. I can foresee a time when manufacturers may offer "video auditions" to allow potential buyers a narrated demonstration/review of their products and features. Buyers today largely want quality goods at competitive prices, and the group willing to pay for sales/service is getting smaller.