John
i fully understand your concern as I have mine when I do go in there. I also get the "shady" feeling from there although I don't have anything to substantiate it which was the reason I didn't include it in my previous post. although I've never had any problems with fish recovering from ick as long as the fish is healthy and with lots of garlic, imo the ick is usually present because of the stress of shipping.
i usually watch the fish close up for about 5 minutes then watch if from a distance for another 5 minutes. then i ask them to feed it and i watch for another five minutes. Then I leave the store and come back a day or two later and do the same thing comparing its condition and behavior from the last visit. If the fish is gone, it wasn't meant to be. If its still there, its meant to be
The fish is usually still there because the place is hardly open at times.
I also find most ick fish get healthy quickly if they are given good hiding places and they will eventually emerge as they become less stress and gain more confidence. Feed them often with garlic saturated mysis and
walk away so they will come out to eat the food without seeing a big human watching them.
So to sum it up, i don't let a little ick stop the purchase of a fish that I feel that I can facilitate its recovery to full health.