Shop Locally or Support Online Businesses?

My policy is to support my LBS as much as possible and I have spent a lot of $$$ on bikes/parts over the years at the Calgary bike shops. However, I dabble in some pretty exotic bikes compared to the average cyclist, which means I have to use mail order to get what I need. For example my Volae was mail ordered as well as upgrades for it that I have purchased over the months. In some cases I have tried to order special items through my LBS they just couldn't make it happen.

Recently I needed to order a few things and since they weren't run of the mill items I was about to order them from Harris Cyclery in the USA. Harris Cyclery is about as close to a LBS for me as it gets while being in another country. I get fast great service and best of all they stock the odd bits I need that a LBS wouldn't. So I was about to place the order when I thought I better call a LBS and see if they can help me out. I called a shop 3 blocks from me and not only did they have what I needed, but it was cheaper than Harris [not factoring in shipping] - nice. This weekend my friend Jeff needed to get his wife a lock for her new touring bike and I needed some disc brakes. We went to another LBS that I frequent a lot - I spend enough time there and brought so many people in to buy bikes that I get 20% off everything which is noted on my computer file as [Vik is one of the good guys 20% off - the cashier gets a chuckle out of that each time]. I check online and I got some Avid BB7s for less in CDN then they are sold for in USD - sweet.

I was quite happy that I had checked things out and shopped at my locals LBS. However, then I started thinking - if I don't support the online specialty stores and they close - where do I get my exotic bent parts from? Sure its great that I buy 1 recumbent widget from an online shop that specializes in bents, but that's not a lot of business. What would help them is if I bought the widget that I needed and a pair of Avid BB7s and three SRAM chains and a bike computer. Its a bit of a problem. I want to support my LBS so I have a place to go when I need help and to put money into Calgarians' pockets OTOH I want to be able to call up the Hostel Shoppe and get a carbon fibre light mount made specifically for my Volae.

For now I'll shop locally when I can and when I do need to order online I'll grab anything else I need at the time from that merchant even if I can get it here. Not much of a plan...lol...what do you do to resolve this dilemma?