Ok, now it is your turn to tell us what you want information for!
What I like (pretty much the adverse of what I said before) - friendly employees who skate, not a boutique look, a decent ratio of hard-goods to soft-goods (so many shops seem to be 90% soft-goods these days), a stacked dvd case, more skate shoe brands (and less Nike, Adidas, cons and vans... yeah, I said it, Vans!), and a mini-ramp doesn't hurt.
I'm asking because I'm advising a buddy of mine with his new shop, and don't want to simply advise based on my personal opinion. The dude love skateboarding and the shop is far enough from every other skater-owned shop that it shouldn't affect their business, mainly want to take customers away from the nearest Zumiez and the like. Now, the owner is a little older and he [awkward silence...] longboards. The crazy super-fast hill and parking garage bombing kind though, not cruising the boardwalk in boardshorts with tribal tats on display. He's a good guy and if the shop is successful he and I can work to do a lot for the local scene. I am selectively building a shop team and want to help guys make the most out of skating while also putting on demos, BBQ's, petitioning for skate parks (that are made properly), fighting anti-skateboarding laws, etc.
Here's my piece: A big shoe selection is hard to do, that is very expensive to stock so w/o a couple hundred K in start-up, you're lucky to have any shoes. I can get my shoes at the next skateshop or as a last resort, at the Vans store. If there is a shoe selection, I like to see Circa, Es, and DVS, among others. Same with the soft goods. I don't wear skinny jeans, I buy my pants at the nearest surplus/workwear outlet. Can't go wrong with Ben Davis and Dickies. However, a good selection of T's and sweatshirts is nice but the most important thing is the hardware.
Not all skateboards are created equal. Of course all shops have to carry the Dwindle stuff, and element unfortunately, but if I don't see a ton of DLX, some Regulator (1031), NHS, and Black Label, then I'm immediately put off. The day I ride a BAM deck I might as well start buying from the Shaun White designed clothing selection at Target. Oh, and support the smaller companies. Even if it's just a few decks, supporting the skater owned start-ups keeps your local scene thriving.
Same with wheels. In my opinion there's really only a handful of really decent wheel companies (the only ones that come to mind are Spitfire, Bones, OJ, Ricta, and Landshark). Did I miss any? Anyway, I ride 56's so when I see a cabinet full of 52's and 53's, and the only wheels I find in the 55-56 range are made by Darkstar...yeah, I'm going elsewhere.
About customer service, skaters should work at a skate shop. Generally, unless they're dicks, most skaters will greet you, let you know that they're there if you need anything, but leave you to find what you want. Almost every skater knows what they want before they walk in the door. When I'm looking at Anti-Hero decks and some guy with a crew-cut, Fox shirt, and stretched ears pulls down an Enjoi and says "this is pretty much the same size..."
Oh, I've actually never seen video games set up in a shop but that sounds like a waste of good skate video playing opportunity. That just shouldn't be allowed.