Greetings,
The big problem with B&M's these days is that they're really CIGAR stores. The owner and staff know NOTHING about pipes, let alone pipe tobacco. Some shop owners absolutely refuse to cater to pipe customers (cigar snobs), others decide to cash in on the "pipe trend" and put in a few pipes and some tobacco. What you end up seeing is about a dozen or so cheap pipes on display along with a few jars of dried out vanilla flavored tobacco, usually shoved in a dusty corner in the back of the store. And the owner wonders why he doesn't sell any pipes!
The local sales rep (usually from Altadis) stops by and sets up the pipe-ignorant owner with their "top 10" best sellers. Of course nearly all are vanilla based, cavendish aromatics. Hence the sameness, especially from one manufactuter. Each tobacco maker usually uses a base casing sauce and process, and varies the blend by adding a distinct flavor such as vanilla, cherry, licorice, chocolate, etc. For instance, all Lane aromatics from 1-Q to HS-3 to MV-1000 are very similar. Same with McClelland. Same with Altadis. Sameness.
When I owned my store, I carried bulk blends from no less than 6 different manufacturers, including Lane, McClelland, Altadis, Stokkebye, House of Windsor and C&D. This provided variety and enough taste differences to satisfy just about anyone. Of course, I was a pipe oriented store that stocked cigars to pay the bills. Cigars sales were bread-n-butter, pipes were, and still are, my passion. Few, if any, tobacco store owners are passionate about pipes any more. Cigars are a much, much easier sell. Just point, say "it's good", and ring it up.
If you find a B&M that cares about pipes and pipe tobacco, and is willing to order and stock new tobaccos, by all means support them as much as possible. They are an increasingly rare breed.
CACooper