Friendly service is a must. I don't want to go into a shop and feel intimidated because the employees are snobbish.
Organized fabrics.
Classes---our quilt shop gives a student discount on the class if you bought the fabrics ahead of time (and a discount on the quilting services if you have a finished project from a class quilted there).
I like that ours has projects made from kits and quilts (not always from kits) hanging up...first time I went in there I was awed by this denim cathedral quilt and have wanted to make a cathedral quilt ever since.
I really like she cuts her fabric with the rotary cutter and ruler instead of with scissors...makes a very clean straight edge and I know I'm getting exactly a yard and not a yard on the bottom edge and 7/8 on the top. She has a counter with a mat and two 1 yard rulers (one going vertical and the other going horizontal) bolted onto it.
Oooh. And sometimes she has coffee and donuts or something else to snack on. She also sells soda for $.50 (kind of nice when I have to walk there...her shop is on one end of town and my house is on the other end so a good 6 miles). I think every now and then she gets together with other quilters and they just chat. I think someone else said something about "having tea"...think its similar to that.