Not always, and I don't always spend a lot when I am there to buy.
I am suprised, though, at how many people are willing to read your comments and immediately dismiss the store as being customer unfriendly, despite the good experiences I (and others) related.
I took your comments to heart and returned to the store. The store was considerably busier due to the Christmas season and the very nice Christmas children's railroad they had set up, so I allowed for the staff being busy. I simply hung around the N-ascale srectin looking baffled and waited to see what would happen, no request for assistance or anything.
After about ten minutes an employee asked me if I needed help with anything. I replied that I needed to talk to someone seriously about the various pros and cons of N-scale vs HO-scale. He told me it wasn't his section - the employees are assigned to various sections by gauge in this store, but he offered to go and find the N-scale guy, and he did. When that individual arrived, I told him about my prior experience and he was baffled. He told me it was bad Page Ranking for the store to leave an impression like that, and said he would try to make up for it, He also said that after being the resident "expert" in a particularfor many years, some folks became ubncomfortable with anyone who wasn't equally knowledgable and got to thinking they were above answering simplistic questions from newbies, forgetting that everyone had to start from the ground up and learn as they went.
So thanks to him, and to you, I will return from time to time. Unfortunately, I tend to judge stores by my experience in Colorado Springs, where the owner is warm and personable, and usually has a number of people hanging around just shooting the breeze at the register.
One memorable day I commented on purchasing a particular book from his store, and the man next to me, a total stranger, asked me what I thought of it. I found it interesting and informative and I liked the style in which it was written, and upon hearing that the guy nodded and said he was very glad to hear it. He then introduced himself and told me he was the author of the book, which he proceeded to sign for me! According to the owner, he stops by quite often to talk trains.
That's my kind of store, and I will pay extra to do business there.