Not to jump the shark here but has anyone bought stuff from Barnes & Noble online and then went to the store? Their pricing is different also. For some companies it is just standard practice to have different pricing online, in catalog, and in the store.
By no means am I defending it but from a dollars and cents standpoint it makes sense. It cost less money to house things in a warehouse than to have them on a shelf in store because of all the overhead costs associated.
I see it more of an issue with the employees not wanting to do the work of giving the discount because god forbid they actually do something!
That's just my 2 cents... You can rip me now.