Owning And Running A Store

This page walks the store loop from the owner's side.

Getting a store

An admin creates a store (via /smadmin) and assigns an owner. The store has a zone, a register, a back room, a delivery point and optionally a garage. As owner you can build the interior with the prop editor.

Stocking goods

Goods reach your shelves through the supply chain:

• Deliveries : order stock; it arrives as cargo you (or a driver) bring to the store's delivery point. A manual restock mission is available via the +smMissionToggle keybind.
• Back room : stock is held in the back room and stocked onto shelves/fridges, where it renders as small props on the container grid.

The wholesale market

Each good has a fluctuating wholesale cost that drifts over time around a base cost, plus your own retail price. Buy low, price sensibly : your margin is the retail price minus what you paid to restock.

Selling

• NPC customers spawn, browse, queue at a register and buy. They can self-checkout when no cashier is present (or if you've bought the auto-checkout upgrade), otherwise a cashier rings them up.
• Player customers fill a basket and check out at the register. Employees get a discount.
• Shoplifting : some NPCs try to steal; staff present can catch them.

The register

The register renders a live screen on the register prop. Checkout works as self-checkout when there's no cashier, or through an NPC/player cashier. Ring the cashier with sm_ring_cashier.

Staff, loans & security

• Hire players into the store job and set their grade (bounded so staff can't promote themselves above the owner).
• Loans — take and repay financing against the store.
• Security level — invest to reduce theft/shoplifting losses.
• Payroll runs on a cycle; keep funds available or accrue payroll debt.

Garage

Stores can have a garage with tiers (small / medium / large), a vehicle fleet and a vehicle catalogue to buy from. Fleet vehicles spawn at the store's garage spawn.

Cleaning

Stores get dirty over time; stains spawn based on cleanliness. Sweep them with the broom to keep the store presentable (cleanliness affects customer mood).

Persistence

Everything — funds, pricing, stock, staff, loans, layout, garage, cleanliness, is saved per store in the database / server JSON state and restored on restart.