Why buy at the Apple Store instead of online retailers?

Beats me. Because it's fun, I guess. Last few Apple purchases I made were at the retail store, but I'm planning on getting an iPhone 5 within the next couple of months, and I'll probably just go to the Sprint store a few blocks from my house, rather than going all the way to the mall just for the "experience" of the retail store.

I buy online if I know exactly what I'm going for. But during my recent laptop search, I wanted to try the look and feel of the retina vs nonretina Pro 15". So the in store sampling really is a big draw for me.

I always buy from online stores that don't charge sales tax, especially high priced items

Okay things might be different in the US but I always try and buy either from an online Apple Store or the physical store as you get 2 weeks open box return policy which means that for any reason I can return it even after using it within 2 weeks. This gives me great peace of mind especially when it comes to deciding between say the iPhone vs iPhone plus.

I've never gone to an Apple store.... Maybe twice in life so far, but always get online anyway... no need to mess with waiting in line.. And with NextByte and other APP retailers closing down,,, Apple stores would only get busyer