[Ti] who owns the stores?

[coccolithophorid at earthlink.net]

All this talk about the Apple stores makes me feel sure that I've made 
the right decision about not buying tech from a physical store. If I 
walk into an Apple store the employees have no idea what level of 
understanding I have of computers, in my experience, generally store 
clerks that are dealing with tech assume I know very little about tech, 
it will take me seconds to find everything I need to know about a 
specific piece of tech, why would I want to drive to a store and deal 
with a clerk who is worried about me messing up a display? I want 
information, that is what I base my purchases on. Research online, 
Purchase online, Open front door...product handed to me. What more 
could you ask for?

if I am looking into buying a new computer (a notebook for example) I 
want to know several things...

1) Price
2) Technical specifications
3) Dimensions
4) Weight
5) Overall look

Why would one go to a store for this?

Kevin