Well, I got the part-time job mentioned above, pretty chuffed about it. Turns out the manager is a former student! Hope to do well with it and not spend to much with the employee discount! I do plan to seriously consider a number of the posts above.
Speaking from experience, good luck with not spending more than you make at the shop!
I worked 6 months full-time as a gun shop clerk, and will say I did everything possible to make the customers to feel welcome, not pushed into products they didn't want and not condescended to.
Pricing, however, is a huge pet peeve of everybody everywhere. Remember, there isn't a lot the clerk at the counter can do about it. That gun the small shop is selling for $475 when you can find it all day online for $400? It cost the shop $400 to get from the distributor. Buying power makes a huge difference. When you can only buy 3 or 4 at a time, the wholesalers don't cut you many breaks. And the shops aren't making hundreds of dollars on guns selling in the sub-$1000 range.
And might as well throw in one of my favorite ignored at a shop stories: Right before I got married I wanted a Colt 6920. (This was a couple of years ago, after the Sandy Hook shortages were subsiding but availability was still "if you found what you want, you did well.") Went to a local shop that's close to a college. Looked over the rack, waited patiently as the staff was busy. FINALLY, I get asked if I wanted to see something. I said I wanted a Colt 6920. Turns out he had 2 or 3 in boxes out back. I picked one and decided I'd take it. As we're doing the paperwork the gentleman looks at my ID, sees my birthday, must realize I was 30 and not the 17 I looked (still look?) like, and said "Oh, I thought you were just a kid from the school looking around."
In hindsight, I should've walked away, but I really wanted a Colt AR and wasn't sure I'd be able to get one at a later date.