You can just imagine the old codger of a shopkeeper in the sitcom ‘open all hours’. He was cantankerous and a tad mischievous, if not downright evil at times! Always on the lookout to extract another shekel or two out of his band of loyal but somewhat hapless customers. Stores these days have to ensure they keep to the well publicised public codes of practice. You should expect to get in to the store, look around and select your choices without being bombarded by store walkers coming up and trying to push certain products. The staff are generally trained to be ‘customer facing’, in other words, trained to be polite, knowledgeable of the company and it’s products and be as helpful as possible to the shopper who may need assistance. That’s one glaring improvement when I shop online – I don’t run the gaunlet of shoddy service ‘associates’ or wonder if they have stock when I eventually find the department. They’ve made buying online so very nuch better.