I once got respect in a bike shop just for walking in with my spd shoes aaaaand ... Impeach Bush bike socks. Had a long conversation with them about where to get the socks and how many they should stock. Also a conversation about exchanging my comfort bike for a flatbar road bike, now that I'd outdone myself by doing 42 miles of the Cindy on the "old grey mare" and was ready to move up to something real. Maybe I'm thick-skinned, but I didn't feel like they dissed me, and I was not only middle-aged, female and overweight, but actually came in on a big clunky comfortbike. So I guess some shops treat people right. Which I guess is why we come back and actually shop there.