I do like a shop that has good lighting, is clean and neat, and not too cramped. I figure if they take pride in how their shop looks, they take pride in the other aspects of the business.
I do too. My LDS looks like a good working shop... neat and clean with things somewhat organized in the front where the gear is on display but also a little bit of a mess like any busy shop. Not a boutique by any stretch, but not a garage either. Repair area is neat and organized but definitely looks like a work bench. My experience with really neat and clean shops is that they are more interested in selling you something (you're just another customer) than wanting to get to know you better.
I know that renting space for a dive shop isn't cheap and I'm sure what space you do have needs to be utilized in the very best way. I just wish one of the local shops around here had such a space where divers could just come and "hang out" and get to know other divers. But maybe that's just not practical in these times.
My LDS doesn't have a place to "hang out" but any time I visit, I make sure I have enough time to stay a while. Seems that every time I visit, I end up staying at least an hr or more. Just when I'm ready to leave, in walks another diver that I know and guess what?... More stories and shootin' the bs. Sometimes it's only me and the owner, other times it's about 5-6 of us just being social catching up with each other. Sometimes it's a coffee run for anyone who wants coffee. Divers stop in all the time just to say hi, not even looking for any equipment. I've spent 2-3 hrs in the shop just talking and trying to pry myself away. It's always one more story...
The owner knows his success is not so much what the shop looks like or the equipment he sells as much as it is the warm, welcoming atmosphere that permeates the shop. While other shops have closed in the area, he has thrived.