What can you say about this shop - its an institution, legendary, pioneering - and still one of the best record shops in the world for cutting edge indie, punk etc etc alongside Other Music in NY and Amoeba in LA.
The staff are friendly (most of the time), knowledgeable (always) and happy to recommend you something that you've never heard before that may well end up being at the top of the charts in 6-12 months time.
In a time when places like HMV and Virgin are looking at downsizing their mammoth stores it looks like Rough Trade is proving the old adage right - Quality over Quantity.