Bill, I saw that at several stores which are no longer around. There is not much good to say about those people.
Another thing that killed me was when a young (new) builder brought something in to show, those same “experts” would tear the work apart without any form of encouragement. The time I noticed it I stopped the rukus and encouraged the new builder. I could then only hope that thier yerk like actions didn’t crush any chance for the hobby to grow in the person. Eventually the owner had them permenantly move on, so words must have been said (and that’s good). Just thinking about that still gets by blood going. Those were most likely the same people who pushed our local stores into closure.
I’m like many of you who have lost numerous hobby shops. Some that come to mind near me in Ohio are: Slaters in Lancaster (huge model, RC, and train with great service and club support), Hobby Lobby in Columbus (not the chain, but three stores with models, RC, Train, diecast, gaming, and any supply you could imagine, great owner too), Don’s Hobbies in Newark (models, RC, and a huge selection of anything slot car. They even had several very large slot car tracks and an outdoor RC racing facility), Model Barn in Zanesville (years ago), just to name a few near me. All of them had a great store and they all started selling on-line as well, but it just wasn’t enough, as you have said, to keep the doors open.
The only places to drive and get anything now are either the Hobby Lobby chain which has very limited in selection of models or paints and supplies, or another chain called Hobby Town and they are 35 miles one way, with kids staffing them only to take your money. Even there, most of the store is RC, railroad, gaming, or toys. Roughly 20% or less of the store is actual modeling and the paint or supplies stock is lacking.
I guess this is one part of our hobby that as we all age, is not a positive thing. At this point, on-line and mail order seems to rule.