In the days before the Internet you sold customers whatever you wanted, they did not know that there was a universe of choices out there. This was particularly

In the days before the Internet you sold customers whatever you wanted, they did not know that there was a universe of choices out there. This was particularly the case in small towns and Tandy were in a lot of small towns. Sure there were magazines, but, think of other stuff people bought back then, the local retailer was influential. The better products can be held off for quite a few years by a strong retailer presence. Maplin in the UK managed it for quite a few years in having a High Street presence selling so-so stuff. There were also limits to how dealerships in better products could sell, you might have had to have gone to a different town to see a PCjr, they might have not been able to mail order it to you as that would be competing against rival shops and their respective areas. Plus the brand would not be able to sell mail order as they had good faith to keep with the dealer network. In this way computer interested folk would get suckered into buying the Tandy products, having the local shop for support, showroom appearances, sales staff patter, a warranty, it all helps. Amstrad in the UK had a business model at the time remarkably similar to the Tandy computer one - okayish hardware, not cutting edge, packaged well.