There are several local (i.e., within an hour's drive) quilt shops in my rural area and I stop at my two favorites at least once a month, the others at least four times a year. The owners have become friends of mine and I generally buy a couple yards of fabric every time I visit. Two other local shops have closed their brick and mortar stores and are now doing business online only. It's less expensive for them and they resisted as long as they could, but at least they are still in business.
Although I shop online for bolts of Kona solids, I prefer to buy everything else from locally owned shops. That goes for non-quilting stuff, too. For every $100 spent in a locally owned store, $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll, and other expenditures. If you spend that amount in a national chain store, only $43 stays home. Spend it online and nothing comes home. It's a neighbor helping neighbor thing for me. If you would miss a store if it disappeared, do your part to keep it in business.
Oh yeah, and at every single quilt shop I have ever been in here in this cold, aloof northeastern part of the country, the staff has greeted me within two minutes of opening the door with a smile, a welcome, and an offer of help. I have never been ignored or made to feel like I was imposing on them. ;-)