[Kevin]

I buy everything from my LHBS. Even when I order online.

[reverseapachemaster]

I've ordered online but I prefer to buy yeast locally if I can. I'm one to preach the durability of yeast through shipping but I want to see expiry dates.

I'm usually an online supply shopper in general but having moved to kegging in the past couple years so I use my trips to refill tanks as an opportunity to buy yeast. I have a kegerator for carbonated water that burns through tanks quickly (but still at a fraction of the cost of buying canned seltzer). The shop near my office carries several labs and the stock is reasonably fresh so on the rare instance I need a new strain I pick it up there.

For a small shop that doesn't turn over supplies quickly look at what you sell versus what you throw away. I would be extremely surprised if the bulk of what you sell is more than a handful of strains. The only good reason to carry strains you don't sell well is because you make more profit on the customers those strains bring in than what you lose throwing away unsold yeast.

[EchoValley]

My LHBS has a variety of dry and liquid yeasts, with that said if I'm looking for a strain not currently in stock, the owner will order it for me.  I've learned my lesson on buying liquid yeasts in the summer and having it shipped.  If I do want a liquid in the summer which is out of stock locally, the LHBS will order it for me as his yeasts come shipped to him in an actual insulated cooler rather than a ice pack in a packing sleeve. 
For me, it comes down to planning my brew year and knowing what I will want and when.  Also, as far as your customers not wanting to make a starter, do  you carry Propper Starter™, it makes making a starter really really easy.  Lastly, there are alot of good dry yeasts available to homebrewers now that were not, even 6 months ago, and I find myself using those quite often lately.
Cheers,
Scott