I recently watched a video where some guys was running a store in Sims 4. That made me a little curious about trying my hands on it. But first I wanted to see what the pre-made stores was offering, to get an idea of how one would run a store. Two of the pre-made stores are "clothes store". I put it in citations because yes, they have dressed up mannequins, where one can try and buy the style... but all clothes in the Sims 4 is free and able to use (with some exceptions). So what's the purpose of selling a style you can just make yourself? At no cost. On top of that we have Trendi where you also make a "style" to sell via their own dedicated store. We also have that other service where you can sell anything you Sim has made. So why would one go out of their way to buy and build a lot when things can be done either free or for less hassle? It feels like they have just piled on options that make the old expansion pack redundant.

What are your thoughts on it? I can see that for story a business may be fun, but other than that I fail to see any advantages over other services.

I was also thinking about coffee shops. One could make a coffee shop. But would your Sim actually get something out of it? In Sims 4 you can take over an espresso bar and work but unlike previous games, you don't actually gain any money from that, right? Would that be different on an owned lot?

LOL you are being logical and this is Sims. I think the stores are in the game just so players who want to have stores have them. Which many people do. Overall we cannot expect things to make sense in Sims.

That's true I suppose. It made more sense in Sims 2 where you had to buy clothes and could even design your own clothes.

It made more sense in TS2 because there is no infinite wardrobe. That is why TS4 sometimes feels so dumbed down.