I've found the same thing in California. The only place I've seen a Thinkpad in the wild is at Fry's or (once) at the Microsoft store. Certainly never at Best Buy. But I suspect that the real customers for Thinkpads are corporate IT purchase managers as probably most Thinkpad users have their machines bought for them by their employers.
I've seen SLs at Best Buy, but I have to agree on the brand dilution thing. They feel like other laptops; they don't actually have the full keyboard, nor do they have the metal frame or matte finish that other Thinkpads do.
