Amazon seems to be teaming up with everyone. Today I noticed Amazon's now partnered with San Diego's Road Runner Sports, my favorite place to buy running shoes. RRS used to be an all-catalog outfit and they won me over the very first time I called them, in 1990. I'd seen the shoes I wanted in the local running store in Cambridge (MA). I called RRS for a price quote. The price was the same as the local store, so I told the guy on the phone, "Thanks but I don't want to order them."
He asked me, "Why not?"
"Because the price is the same as the store nearby and I could get them today, without paying for shipping."
So he lowered the price by $10 and overnighted the sneakers to me for free. Yup, I like RRS. And I like them even more integrated into Amazon's super-duper shopping and recommendation engine.