NPC Staff in stores not restocking items?

They should autonomously restock the shelves, however they won't always do it. The sim employees for GTW are really really dumb. Unfortunately because it's an old pack and pretty small for an expansion and no one really buys it anymore (It's actually their worst rated EP) they don't care to update it. If only they implemented the same code from the Vet employees in Cats and Dogs... we might actually have competent employees. Even playing as a shop owner, the employees never ever restock items. All they're good for is cleaning.

"lzbthnndgls;c-17735454" wrote:
They should autonomously restock the shelves, however they won't always do it. The sim employees for GTW are really really dumb. Unfortunately because it's an old pack and pretty small for an expansion and no one really buys it anymore (It's actually their worst rated EP) they don't care to update it. If only they implemented the same code from the Vet employees in Cats and Dogs... we might actually have competent employees. Even playing as a shop owner, the employees never ever restock items. All they're good for is cleaning.

Thanks for the response, it's a real shame they won't update this as the ability to run a shop or to be able to visit a shop you don't own should be a big part of the game, I used to really enjoy it in Sim 2 open for business.

"RubyxAngel;d-984030" wrote:
I have made a grocery store which has a lot of items, I don't own the store but there are plenty of staff working there automatically.

I see them clean or help sell items, but I don't see them restocking the items. This will take me a long to restock them myself in build mode as they are food items. Is this an error or are the staff meant to restock an item? there's currently loads of little signs that replaced the food.

Any help would be great, is this normal or is there a fix?

I just made a comment about this on Pleasant Sims YouTube channel.
She was covering retail business mods. I didn't see anything on making NPCs restock, but this has been a pet peeve of mine for a long time.
I really don't make business's for my sims to run. I make them so my other sims can shop for things they don't have the time, interest, or ability to make or obtain for themselves.

Having the NPCs restock would make these stores a lot more enjoyable.

I've been getting frustrated with NPC retail employees. Apparently you need to criticize and/or appraise them for their skills to go up. Otherwise look through the list of available employees and hire the ones with the best stats. 3 stats, Check-out customer purchases, Cleaning, and Restock items. I've been mainly using my played characters to run the store. Plus you have to assign them tasks. Focused and Confident aura items like those signs help keep them and customers busy.

"Admiral8Q;c-17735671" wrote:
I've been getting frustrated with NPC retail employees. Apparently you need to criticize and/or appraise them for their skills to go up. Otherwise look through the list of available employees and hire the ones with the best stats. 3 stats, Check-out customer purchases, Cleaning, and Restock items. I've been mainly using my played characters to run the store. Plus you have to assign them tasks. Focused and Confident aura items like those signs help keep them and customers busy.

But when you don't own or run the store like me, there is no option to hire staff or increase their skill. The staff just appear in the building when you set it as 'retail'. A bit like how a restaurant can run on its own if you set it as a 'restaurant', there for there's no way to control staff/uniform/menus etc as they just appear randomly.

Yeah, they seem pretty broken. Employees also don't really follow commands unless you use a mod to give them an extra push (Little MsSam's Retail Overhaul). And they don't show up in the preferred uniforms.. The GTW retail system leaves a lot to be desired imo. I really hope they update it someday, I think it's one of the worst functioning systems in the game.

"EliasVersace;c-17736255" wrote:
Yeah, they seem pretty broken. Employees also don't really follow commands unless you use a mod to give them an extra push (Little MsSam's Retail Overhaul). And they don't show up in the preferred uniforms.. The GTW retail system leaves a lot to be desired imo. I really hope they update it someday, I think it's one of the worst functioning systems in the game.

It seems like it's not really possible to just have shops in the game that you don't own because of the staff, which is a shame as it's fun to take my Sim grocery shopping etc but not possible if the items don't get restocked at all.

"RubyxAngel;c-17736029" wrote:

"Admiral8Q;c-17735671" wrote:
I've been getting frustrated with NPC retail employees. Apparently you need to criticize and/or appraise them for their skills to go up. Otherwise look through the list of available employees and hire the ones with the best stats. 3 stats, Check-out customer purchases, Cleaning, and Restock items. I've been mainly using my played characters to run the store. Plus you have to assign them tasks. Focused and Confident aura items like those signs help keep them and customers busy.

But when you don't own or run the store like me, there is no option to hire staff or increase their skill. The staff just appear in the building when you set it as 'retail'. A bit like how a restaurant can run on its own if you set it as a 'restaurant', there for there's no way to control staff/uniform/menus etc as they just appear randomly.

Oh I see what you mean. Completely NPC retail shop. Hmm...

"EliasVersace;c-17736255" wrote:
Yeah, they seem pretty broken. Employees also don't really follow commands unless you use a mod to give them an extra push (Little MsSam's Retail Overhaul). And they don't show up in the preferred uniforms.. The GTW retail system leaves a lot to be desired imo. I really hope they update it someday, I think it's one of the worst functioning systems in the game.

Does that fix NPC retail shops also? I'll check out her mod! I already got a bunch of hers. Like live-in business is pretty cool! She's excellent! :smiley:

If interested, the mod is here:

LittleMsSam's Retail Overhaul

I just got it now. I'll see how it works next time I play with retail. Only one retail shop in my game so far. If this is a huge improvement, I may make more. B)

"Admiral8Q;c-17736369" wrote:

"RubyxAngel;c-17736029" wrote:

"Admiral8Q;c-17735671" wrote:
I've been getting frustrated with NPC retail employees. Apparently you need to criticize and/or appraise them for their skills to go up. Otherwise look through the list of available employees and hire the ones with the best stats. 3 stats, Check-out customer purchases, Cleaning, and Restock items. I've been mainly using my played characters to run the store. Plus you have to assign them tasks. Focused and Confident aura items like those signs help keep them and customers busy.

But when you don't own or run the store like me, there is no option to hire staff or increase their skill. The staff just appear in the building when you set it as 'retail'. A bit like how a restaurant can run on its own if you set it as a 'restaurant', there for there's no way to control staff/uniform/menus etc as they just appear randomly.

Oh I see what you mean. Completely NPC retail shop. Hmm...

"EliasVersace;c-17736255" wrote:
Yeah, they seem pretty broken. Employees also don't really follow commands unless you use a mod to give them an extra push (Little MsSam's Retail Overhaul). And they don't show up in the preferred uniforms.. The GTW retail system leaves a lot to be desired imo. I really hope they update it someday, I think it's one of the worst functioning systems in the game.

Does that fix NPC retail shops also? I'll check out her mod! I already got a bunch of hers. Like live-in business is pretty cool! She's excellent! :smiley:

I think it doesn't fix that, unfortunately. But it has some other really neat features, like infinite baked goods, fruits, fish and pet treats that you can buy as a customer when visiting an NPC retail shop, by clicking on the fridges from GTW. Restocking won't be necessary if you use that technique - just place a few of the GTW fridges in your grocery store to make it functional, and add some other foods on shelves as decoration (don't mark them for sale). That's the workaround I use. Works great in combination with Srsly Sims' Complete Cooking Overhaul, that adds all kinds of realistic food packaging to your game. Add some of the Snowy Escape vending machines and you have a pretty cool grocery store.