Depends on what your actual base is at a shop. What I've seen keeping smaller places open were (a) internet sales of pieces too expensive/rare/wierd to keep locally (b) the core of regular purchasers, the ones who make up a substantial amount of a shop's business.
If it doesn't offend group b, the shop won't change - same reason one of the shops here wasn't particularly friendly to new shooters and had a bad reputation among them before the untimely death of its owner a few years back. They made enough from their core that walk-ins who didn't comply or feel comfortable weren't worth extending a real welcome to. Other shops focus on the competition shooting crowd, or the NFA guys, etc. They're niche places, and niche places that reach out for a broader audience can easily lose their appeal.
It's why I didn't frequent several, they're basically private clubs that sell to their core cliente and occasional visitors. What I do understand is when (or if) you find a particular one you like that caters to you and yours, those customers become extremely, extremely loyal. I found mine, worked there for a while, and built up a nice collection.
The gun counter at Sportsmans doesn't remind me of a gun shop really - the lack of used guns, limited selection in terms of brands, and the general mall atmosphere isn't what I've grown up associating with gun shops here and back east. They have a lot of things, true, but it's an oddly shallow depth - no range of defensive bullet choices like a couple other local shops, for instance.
Sportsmans caters mostly IMO to the once a year, box of shells hunting type crowd. The guns are there to sell the many other accessories and clothing and non-gun stuff in the store.
Back to the original topic at hand though, I have noticed similar cliques and management styles while travelling throughout the state at various gun shops. The normal business admonitions may not apply to what local customers want en masse, especially coming from an Internet saavy crowd.
I learned that the hard way, very fast. YMMV.
