"Out of Town" Brewery

I asked the guy working at an Ocean Beach liquor store/deli if the store carried The Lost Abbey beers. He told me the store focused on local breweries, not "out of town" breweries. I told him Lost Abbey is local, based in San Diego County. He was response was, "yeah, but it's one of those old school breweries." Old school is valid reason not to carry a brand? The liquor store/deli has a craft beer selection better than most of its competitors, too, and it carries beers from plenty of "out of town" breweries. I suspect not wanting to stock Lost Abbey bottles is a more true reason, as most of its beers are in cans. Finding Lost Abbey beers near me is more of a challenge than I thought it would be.