to shop in a shop which has this notice on the door?

[Bluebell99]

Okay, so we have a shop in our high st, which has a notice on the door which says,
"If you wish to make a genuine purchase,please come in, but if you only intend to waste our time and yours, do not bother."
I have paraphrased, but this notice first appeared a few weeks ago hand writed, and then was replaced with a typed version.

It is a funny sort of shop, very old fashioned and sells haberdashery items and wool.
There is a sewing shop in the town too, which now has a sign saying "Browsers welcome, and their dogs!!!"
So I need to buy some ribbons, but am a bit scared of shopping in such an unfriendly shop!

How utterly rude!

And such a stupid attitude for a businessperson to have.

If people are coming in and not buying anything, then surely the shopkeepers ought to look at themselves and think about whether they are selling the right stock at the right price?

And, obviously, even if you don't buy something every time you visit, you might be filing away ideas or recommending it to people you know.

In a situation like this, I always think WWMPD (What Would Mary Portas Do) ... follow that advice and you won't go far wrong
(heaves bosom)

There's a lovely shop near me, all lots of lovely things but you have to pick your way round the shop as there are displays and things all on the floor. Not at all pushchair conducive but they have a sign on the window saying pushchairs and dogs welcome! I wouldn't dream of taking either in there - it would be carnage, but how lovely and welcoming of them to say it anyway.

@kreecher

ddidl
DH bought my anniversary ring from one of those shops. It made a weird kind of sense when I saw the prices [fucking nora]

They gave DD a bowl of gold and silver bangles, chains and bracelets to play with while we were being served

I would go in mad unfriendly shop. I want to know where it is to go there and browse.

in my experience shops with browsers welcome on the door are often pushy and hostile - a reverse psycology mind fuck thing

I want to open a book shop one day with 'just fuck off' on the door. We wouldn't have many customers but they would all be determined

What a daft sign, I wouldn't go in, I would imagine the sewing shop would stock some ribbon.
I have a huge sewing/craft shop near me and most of the staff need sacking from there. I heard one of the till staff, chatting loudly as us usual,
'Well I don't know anything about that craft, why should I?'
Because you work here, and have done for years, you are paid to help the customer not chat to your friends and look at me like I'm dirt. Most of the staff must be reaching retirement age and have driven out all the young staff.

Keen to know which town the toy shop is in that Catherinewho is referring to

Maybe it's haberdashery shops. There's one near us with a staff member who does theatrical eye rolls and heavy sighs if you don't the exact technical name for the item you need. It's one of the main reasons I didn't get more into sewing, very off putting to a beginner.

pagwatch - that sounds like Black Books!

my ideal shop!

i'm glad i'm not that type of shop, though.
I pride myself on practically ignoring allowoing customers to browse as long as they need to.
I hate being pounced upon in shops, or stared at, so I try not to in my own shop.

I sit here (now visible from the door, which has made a huge difference (it wasn't deliberate, i used to have a bookmark display in front of the till!)), typing away, and look up every now and then to make sure customer is okay.

and i eavesdrop in conversations, so that I can gently whisper/point out that they might be looking for suchandsuch on that shelf(usually to the child when the parent has given up - it makes the child able to pretend to the parent they know more than the parents do!)

but i never badger, and, honestly, i never make faces at those who need to be told 2000000000 times that this is a children's bookshop and is therefore unlikely to have in stock the complete works of some random man who wrote about the 1st world war submarine warfare.... (but i can order it in! )

LOL at Pagwatch's shop! I went to the embroidary shop which sells ribbon so I didn't have to venture into the other. But I did ask the shopkeeper if she knew what had caused the other shop to put up the notice, and she said that they had had coach loads of ladies who had gone in wanting to browse, and it is very much a shop where you ASK for your metre of lace or whatever. She also said you are not allowed to touch the wool, and last week they threw someone out for being on their mobile phone !

Perhaps you should apply in writing first.