Visited a Store and was shunned

I am a little perplexed by those of you who seem to be implying the OP should not have expected the ability to audition speakers without an appointment.  If this was indeed a "store or shop" with a door open to the public, and assuming there wasn't a sign saying, "by appointment only", then disrespectful behavior toward walk-in (potential) customers is inexcusable. 

I get that an appointment can be desirable if you want to make sure that an associated has time for your questions and equipment auditions but assuming the "two gentlemen working" were not otherwise occupied, then good business practices and common courtesy would have included treating the OP with respect. 

On the other side of the coin, I am currently considering a purchase of a component manufactured in Europe. I started by contacting the distributor who connected me with a dealer in a different state from where I live.  I even exchanged an email with the owner/designer.  All three of these individuals have treated me cordially and with respect, which has made me feel comfortable about both the purchase and the brand.  Customer service is the cornerstone of a B&M store, so when their associates (or owners) display behavior as posted here, it is not hard to understand why they have lost market share.

I have had mixed results when stereo shopping.  
Some shops seem uninterested, others do their job, which as a salesman is to sell.

My wife, upon entering a shop in Toronto, once said in a slightly raised voice "Your limit is $10,000 and no more".  She made sure a store employee heard that. Within a few minutes we were seated, with a bottle of water each, and I was asked "What would I like to listen to?" from their album collection.

The Harbeths were nice, I didn't buy them, I went for the B+W 802 D2's, slightly more than $10k as they were demonstrator models.

It was a walk in, but, her comment on my budget got the ball rolling.

That stinks that a Hi Fi store would come off like that. I would name that store so others will not be turned off from our hobby. I had the total opposite happen to me when I walked into Scott Walker Audio in Anaheim California on the West coast. The sales man which I will name was Colby, and his Dad Scott is the owner, and they were very friendly and professional. I had been out of the hobby for about 15 years and I told them that I might be interested in getting back into the hobby. I did not pull up in a BMW and I was dressed real casual, so they had no idea if I was a real buyer or a window shopper. However they wanted me to listen to a system to show me how much better they are now compared to 15 years ago. About 2 months later I ended up buying my Hi Fi rig I have to this day, and I go to them for advice and to upgrade when I get the itch. If I was you I would never go back to that store that treated you like that because their are plenty of stores on the West coast that are not only after your money, but are genuinely into the hobby and care about the customer.

my wife would say: "you are not buying zilch!"

There's a store here in Northern California that would gladly let you audition up to 3 pairs of speakers for a $250 fee, which would be credited back if a purchase was made; otherwise you got an expensive audition. I paid the $250 fee, auditioned 3 pairs of speakers, and bought one pair. Discourages time-wasters and tire-kickers indeed, but also discourages many who legitimately wanted to buy something. It's not like the place is always packed with customers....