On our drive between Manhattan and Olathe we pass a prominent Billboard that asks the question,
Turns out that Stihl feels their product is better served by the chain of nearly 8000 independent retailers than by a large home improvement chain. I though it might be a labor or liability issue.
On the subject of not selling your product in certain outlets to maintain an image, Daring Fireball has a link today about Snapper Mowers pulling their product from Walmart.