This, I submit, is a Bad Thing. Let me count the ways.
Retailers survive on the profit margin they are able to attach to the products they sell.
As technology pushed forward, and the state of the art advanced, the price point was fairly stable. The profit would be even higher on high-end systems. The truth is, most small operations won't be able to do this, and they will likely fail. Places like Fry's or Costco simply aren't geared toward providing this hand-holding. The place to get this hand-holding is at your local computer dealer.