Yes Bertrand, I remember going to Tower in the Village in the mid-90s on business trips and dropping one or two hundred each time (hauling away many TOCJs). Same for the Jazz Record Mart in Chicago and Jazz Record Center in NY. And Amoeba & Rasputin in Berkeley. Fortunatley these large independents are still with us (I think). Ironically (and wonderfully), they seem to be the winners in all of this, plus the used record stores (although they too are becoming scarce).
On the flip side, between Amazon, Gemm & ebay, there is almost nothing I cannot find in a matter of minutes (if you want to pay the price). But I completely agree that the experience is nowhere near the "off line" version.
PS - I cannot remember the last time I visited a KC record store - maybe early in the summer. Aside from a great used store in nearby Lawrence, there is nothing here of interest (in a 1.5 million metro area with a decent jazz background).