Living in your retail store

Just keep your doors locked and pay your bills through your phone/computer.
And keep in mind that Sims can only travel to work/school from their home lot - but I doubt it's troublesome if you have one Sim that stays behind on the retail lot (I haven't tried that myself).

"MDianaSanders;c-16305116" wrote:

Just keep your doors locked...And keep in mind that Sims can only travel to work/school from their home lot...

I've had my sim go to work on a public lot, but it didn't come up automatically, and I had to command them to go.

@aaronrulz The only downfall is the mailbox and babies. Check the mailbox every once in awhile to make sure gifts aren't waiting for you. You also won't be able to sell books, or send collectibles to get analyzed.

Your baby will be in day care the whole time your sim is away from home lot. So will toddlers unless you bring them with you. Kids and Adults who go to work or school will return on the home lot, but if you stay on your retail lot, you can send them back to your business.

Like @Mdianasanders wisely said, lock those doors, especially during business hours. Gosh darn no good employees....


Edit: changed "dare care" to "day care" lol

"MLadyAzzera;c-16305162" wrote:

"MDianaSanders;c-16305116" wrote:

Just keep your doors locked...And keep in mind that Sims can only travel to work/school from their home lot...

@aaronrulz The only downfall is the mailbox and babies. Check the mailbox every once in awhile to make sure gifts aren't waiting for you. You also won't be able to sell books, or send collectibles to get analyzed.

Your baby will be in dare care the whole time your sim is away from home lot. So will toddlers unless you bring them with you. Kids and Adults who go to work or school will return on the home lot, but if you stay on your retail lot, you can send them back to your business.

Like @Mdianasanders wisely said, lock those doors, especially during business hours. Gosh darn no good employees....

ok thanks! Yes, I knew about locking doors. I don't plan for this couple I'm playing to have children anytime soon so I should be good with that but good to know for future reference!

It's very doable indeed @aaronrulz - I made Malcolm open a furniture store once and he had to stay there until he paid back the family fortune which he used to start the store. It was fun - he did everything but go out. He even had clubs over and gave them access to the locked rooms. Nancy used to come over and help in the store sometimes when he was too tired from club activities. She would leave when it was time for work and not come back until I summoned her.

Some tips

Remember to have a private bathroom in the store that's locked so he won't have to go upstairs to bath or so forth.
Have a buffet table and provide food and drinks sometimes - some clients will buy without your sim chatting them up.

"aujineh;c-16305665" wrote:


Some tips

Remember to have a private bathroom in the store that's locked so he won't have to go upstairs to bath or so forth.
Have a buffet table and provide food and drinks sometimes - some clients will buy without your sim chatting them up.

Well I was planning to have a customer bathroom downstairs and his private bathroom upstairs in the apartment. Is that what you meant?

Also, this will be an art gallery...Don't think it's a place for food...but I guess I could do that. If I put a coffee bar in the retail shop and hire a barista, will customer sims buy drinks from there?

You do have to remember to unlock doors when you have visitors over.
And you may be able to send collectables from your sim's inventory, haven't tried it yet, but I've seen the option.
At leawst for me, laundry apparently doesn't work. My sim family has hampers and a laundry room, but the hampers stay empty though they've changed clothes several times since the update.
Story's Dream Bakery if you want to see how my sim family handles life above thier business. They go to work and school automatically, just seems to take them a little longer to get there.

"aaronrulz;c-16305796" wrote:

"aujineh;c-16305665" wrote:


Some tips

Remember to have a private bathroom in the store that's locked so he won't have to go upstairs to bath or so forth.
Have a buffet table and provide food and drinks sometimes - some clients will buy without your sim chatting them up.

Well I was planning to have a customer bathroom downstairs and his private bathroom upstairs in the apartment. Is that what you meant?

Also, this will be an art gallery...Don't think it's a place for food...but I guess I could do that. If I put a coffee bar in the retail shop and hire a barista, will customer sims buy drinks from there?

Yes that's what I mean - your sim may need to go real fast and someone may be using the customer bathroom and the upstairs bath would be inconveniently placed for an emergency. So I always have a small bath in the store (besides the cusomer bathrooms) that's locked to everyone but household members.

"TresaofPern;c-16305845" wrote:
You do have to remember to unlock doors when you have visitors over.
And you may be able to send collectables from your sim's inventory, haven't tried it yet, but I've seen the option.
At leawst for me, laundry apparently doesn't work. My sim family has hampers and a laundry room, but the hampers stay empty though they've changed clothes several times since the update.
Story's Dream Bakery if you want to see how my sim family handles life above thier business. They go to work and school automatically, just seems to take them a little longer to get there.

Laundry only functions on actual designated Home lots, and not on any other lots you own.

I guess some challenges would be related to kids of the family- like bringing home friends after school would involve the empty lot, friends visiting would arrive there too. Having a larger household might be challenging too, but guess it might depend on what kind of retail you run. I tried this only for restaurants, and it worked fine but I didn't build a big family.

"Simmerville;c-16306587" wrote:
I guess some challenges would be related to kids of the family- like bringing home friends after school would involve the empty lot, friends visiting would arrive there too. Having a larger household might be challenging too, but guess it might depend on what kind of retail you run. I tried this only for restaurants, and it worked fine but I didn't build a big family.

I am doing an art gallery. It would just be my sim and his wife (she owns a restaurant though)