I live in Southern California. I wanted a 2017 Giant TCR. Every -- and I mean EVERY Giant-affiliated shop in Southern California couldn't get a hold of this bike in the color and size I wanted. In fact, even Giant themselves told me I'd be hard-pressed to still find this bike, with the 2018 models just about ready to go.
Looked on Giant's website, and only The Velo still had my TCR. I called, and sure enough, it was still on the floor. I swooped in and paid for that like TCRs were going away tomorrow. They shipped it out to me, and I'm beyond stoked. They had packed up all nice for the trip to California and all I had to do was re-attach the front wheel and handlebar.
Now, a shop that sells and ships bikes isn't that out of the ordinary. A lot of shops do. But what makes them stand out -- not just because they had the bike I wanted -- is what happened when I happened to pop in to the shop a few weeks later while out in Phoenix on business. I let one of the employees know -- maybe he's the manager -- that I was the dude who bought the TCR. Even though I'm hundreds of miles away and in another state, he made me feel like a king for coming in after having bought a bike from them. He even hooked me up with a free shirt! And this isn't even mentioning how quickly the dude on the phone took care of business for me and got my TCR ready to go.
I've been to too many shops that act like you don't matter. But that I mattered to them even though I may never ever get to patronize them again means something to me. Whenever I'm in PHX, or if anyone in the area needs to know where to do bike things -- hit up The Velo.