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As annoying as the pushy-sales-person or guy-trying-to-be-your-buddy can be I find both to be better than the how-dare-you-interrupt-my-warcraft-time-by-wanting-to-buy-something that is way too common in independents.

I've always found a simple "I know exactly what I want, I'll let you know if I need help" cuts it short. Only the newest and keenest push past that and just making eye contact with the manager usually solves that problem.

Also, do bear in mind that these guys spend most of their time interacting with kids. Sometimes they are desperate to talk to a grown-up and it's that more than wanting to sell.

The worst kind of sales experiences are often found in places where people can't really compete for your business in any way but to badger you. In a world without the option to present discounts, bundles, or other price-focused incentives it can be very frustrating to try to move / balance inventories. You get stuck with too much of anything and the only answer is to lean into your sales staff to lean into your customers. It is a bad experience all around. That's why corporate stores and non-competitive pricing models are such rubbish for customers.

Independent franchises would provide a much better experience, but so long as the main office force-feeds you inventory and you have no recourse but to force-feed it to your customers via salesmen the experience is going to suffer for it. That kind of model is much better for big-box and convenience stores than for niche markets like the hobby gaming industry.

- Marty Lund