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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dannyalcatraz" data-source="post: 3107656" data-attributes="member: 19675">And I'm black.I get followed in music stores, electronics stores, jewelry stores- almost anywhere where the goods are small and valuable- and ignored in places like high-end car dealerships where the goods are big and expensive.  I get stared at when I go to metal shows.  I deal with it.What you're describing isn't the retailer's fault, its a symptom of the underdeveloped social skills that a lot of guys in the hobby have (not an excuse, just a reason).  Like it or not, women represent only a small minority in the hobby.  Regardless of your personal assessment of your appearance, you're a rare bird- you're going to draw attention.THAT is something entirely within the business' control, and unless it were my only option, I wouldn't shop in a pigsty either.In my experience, game shops operate on narrow profit margins, and are often forced into smaller, cheaper rental spaces than they'd like.  Of the true game stores I've visited over my 28 years in the hobby (covering 8 cities and the D/FW Metroplex), only 6 have had what I'd consider to be a typical shop layout- nice wide aisles, good lighting, etc.Of those, 4 were in malls.  One was in a warehouse.  One is a chain here in D/FW.  Of the mall stores, 2 are now out of business- their overhead was too high to compete in the market.That is something I've warned game store owners about.  Unfortunately, this is partly a result of what we described just above- store size.The only thing a FLGS can do that an online retailer can't just as well or better is demo a game, but to do that, you have to have space.Which most don't have, and neither do they have the cash flow or available space to expand and do game demos.Again, good service or its lack is a perfectly valid reason to give a shop your cash.I've noted in particular that business in America hasn't quite embraced the notion that service can make or break a business.Again, if Amazon.com is passing along prices to customers that have to with competitive advantages- better volume discounts and the like- that's cool.  If, OTOH, the price Amazon.com is selling a product for is also shaped by intentionally selling that product for a loss in order to drive smaller competitors out of business- that's a crime known as predatory pricing.  Because of its size, its also a practice that Amazon (or similar large retailer) can do virtually at will and for an arbitrarily long time.Only time and pending investigations will tell.</blockquote>

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