The last mom & pop store here went out of business 2 yrs ago, they couldn't buy firearms at their price level as cheap as Walmart/BiMart/Sportsmans Warehouse were selling them for retail, let alone make a buck or 2 on each sale. Consequently, they had to price firearms considerably more than what the big stores were selling them for just to break even.
Like I said, it's just a matter of economics, most people are going to look for the best buys regardless of loyalty towards the small shops, specially when it makes the difference between buying and not buying. If there was little difference in price, they'd buy from the little guy, but the difference is usually not a small amount, it sure wasn't around here, never has been.
Tim