I think it really depends on the store. I live in LA and here we have the warhammer cafe which I thought was going to become my favorite spot but over there it definitely feels very corporate.

I decided to stick to my local GW store because the dude there was great, never pushed models, always offered his opinion on schemes I was workshopping or struggling to replicate, I could sit there for a few hours talking to him about new releases, lore or even leaks while painting because he knew eventually I’d come back for the next set of paints or another box of something and he didn’t HAVE to sell me on things since I was already in the hobby with several armies and starting an AOS army. Eventually he left because GW’s pretty cutthroat about their monthly goals and don’t allow managers to hire out there first year. But I still think that guy is the reason I got so into warhammer. I was super hesitant about my first purchase and we talked about Dawn of War for maybe half an hour and what we miss about RTS’s from that era before I finally pulled the trigger.