I have been to a few hobby shops over the years, where the guy at the counter is holding court at his own private clubhouse, and you practically have to fire a flare to get their attention.
Seriously, at a shop in CA, I actually waved my hand in front of the face of an employee to get his attention and even then he was still just talking 'what if' layout concepts with that one customer you always see at a shop who wants to talk but never buys anything. I walked out in disgust, even though I wanted to buy something with a three-digit price tag. I wouldn't go back even if they were giving stuff away, for that reason.
A couple of now-gone local ones had the same problem. Customers were an annoyance to them, it seemed. One had an old guy who just wanted to pontificate to people about... stuff. Forget asking him to order anything. The other also sold gaming stuff and it was nothing but a gaggle of 20-somethings (none of whom had ever kissed a girl in their lives, I bet) who totally ignored anyone looking at the non-gaming stuff. I quit going to both and they both folded not long after I gave up on them. I'm convinced that reception was a big reason behind it.
Today, there's really only one decent LHS (local? It's about 50 miles from me) in the area. It's Tacoma Trains if anyone cares. They've opened early for me when I've gotten there before they were supposed to open, so I could get something I needed. If they didn't have something, they'd always be willing to order it. That shop? I'll pay full retail there, with a smile on my face. Most of my track and much of my rolling stock came from there.
