Speaking to price and inventory selection:

When you have a storefron you need to have enough inventory to meet everyone's needs. If a first time customer comes into your store and you do not have what they are looking for there is a good chance they will not come back, this is why it is a general practice to have a little bit of everything in stock regardless of popularity. This being said there is no sense stocking items that are subpar or below industry standards.

Pricing is typically higher than private breeders or online shops as their is a much larger overhead to account for,building costs, staffing etc. I have fouhd that most if not all Reptile or specialty per stores will offer discounts on animals and even products if you approach the situation correctly. Big chains have set pricing and typically could care less if you buy or don't buy from them.

IMO quality of staffing is directly reflected on wages. As a customer I expect staff to be friendly, knowledgable and respectful. This "is" hard to come by.

The Reptile store that I frequent and help out at is probably one of the best I have been to, that's why I keep going back. They have a very large and diverse collection of reptiles with staff that have the knowledge to accurately answer 9 out of 10 questions. Educational classes such as "popping and probing" are offered and they are never to busy to spend the time with you to address what animal would suit your needs or what you would need to do to achieve your breeding goals.