Can't say my local music shops do much for me these days. I try to throw them a bone when I need some strings or other wee doodad but I live in a small city and the selection just isn't there. Thankfully my preferred strings are D'addario XL nickel rounds and they're pretty much universally available.
The local branch of Kenny's tries to be everything to everyone in a relatively small space and economics dictates that bass gets squeezed into a little corner dwarfed by the selection of skinny stringers, electric and acoustic. I wouldn't be surprised if that's a phenomonon repeated in every small city.
The other place is more of a second hand instrument type place, with a similar ratio of guitars:bass, but I have used them on occasion for repairs (when I made a ballsup of rewiring my LP and I couldn't face starting again) and again the odd set of strings or a gigbag.
It's just the way it is, and the way it has been for some time. They follow the money, and I wouldn't be surprised to learn we're outnumbered by guitarists ten to one.