I like the idea of a specialist store, and personally I'd be happy to pay a slight premium to get expert advice and service.... This said, I'd like to see a proper shop rather than mail order/ internet only.
I purchased my lights from my LBS, and the chaps in there had very little knowledge about the units. They could tell me approx battery life etc, but some of the lights had Lux ratings, other Lumens, other Watts. One of the chaps said these figures "didn't matter". Following this advice I continued browsing without their help!