In reply to Andy225:
> Do you have in your local small shop with climbing equipment? How many?
Our town has an independent walking / climbing / general outdoors place. They're staffed by enthusiasts and hence a) can generally give good advice from experience and b) only stock stuff that's actually useful and competitively priced. They seem to be just about holding up against Cotswolds, who have more stock but less good staff.
> Do you go to local shop or shop from a big companies or online?
I'll go to a local shop if I want to try something on or look at it, want advice, am after something cheap enough that the online saving isn't that significant, or need something in a hurry. I'll go online if I want something expensive or very specific and don't need advice or want to look at it in the flesh. I tend to use the local shop rather than Cotswolds because they normally have better stuff and better advice for similar prices. I try to buy stuff online from "real" shops because I think it's worth not always getting the best possible price in order to be able to try on a dozen rucksacks before deciding which one to get when I need to.
> Do you think is still possible to run this type of bussines?
Possible but difficult, I think.
> What do you prefer?
Shops attached to climbing walls seem to be a good scheme for selling climbing stuff - they tend to be open at a time and place where you were going to be anyway, so you don't have to take a lunchtime off work and head into town specially. They probably also get a fair bit of passing trade from people who go in to kill time until their mates turn up and come out with a pair of technical ice-axes or a portaledge or something. They're probably less accessible than high-street shops for non-climbers though, so less good for selling stuff to walkers and/or the great unwashed.
> Thank for your answers
Good luck!