[josephhardin]

Some stores do a better job of this than others. REI in particular has usually been amazing. I went in last weekend for a shirt, and saw that packs are on sale. The salesman there fitted me for a pack, recommended a cheaper one than I was getting that turned out to be a better pack, then asked if there was anything else I would like to know about, without pushing a hardsale. By the end of the trip, I had a new pack, a new down sleeping bag, some compression sacks, and a few other things. That guy, based on his knowledge, and just being generally friendly without feeling sleezy turned a 20 dollar sale into about $600 in sales.