Whoa -- what a loaded question. Sounds like you're asking us to dis your favourite hang-out. Shame on you!
We don't want to say bad things about other companies that sell guitars but let's face it. The traditional distribution chain for musical instruments has so many layers it rivals a pre-Cambrian paleontological fossil site in the badlands of South Dakota (that was what Bruce was singing about, wasn't it?).
The typical independent music store - with dozens of models just waiting to be played - may be a great place to spend a few hours on a Saturday morning. It certainly beats mowing the lawn or cleaning up the garage. But from a purely financial perspective (accountants will ask "Is there any other kind?") it's not such a hot place to spend your money. Before those lovely guitars reached the store they went through a whole bunch of hands - importer, shipper, distributor etc, etc. And everyone who touched then slapped on a bit of coin so by the time you picked them up they had a pretty heavy coating of markup.
If we could figure out a way to distribute our guitars through the usual channels without inflating the price we'd do it. But then again, if we could figure out how to turn lead into gold we'd do that too.