One Store Supporting Three Generations?

During the boom in real estate, you can see slogans everywhere: One store supporting three generations! I don't know which expert came up with this classic creation, but this statement, like "Don't let children lose at the starting line," is extremely tempting and deceptive! Even before the house is built, the ground floor shops have all been snatched up! Everyone wants to grab a storefront to have the promise of one store supporting three generations! It is important to note that the prices of shops are much higher than residential prices.

I once had a friend, over ten years ago during the time of skyrocketing housing prices, who planned to invest heavily in buying a nearly 200 square meter large shop in a national-level economic development zone in the city. When he sought my opinion, I poured cold water on his plan: E-commerce is so developed that it will definitely squeeze out the space for physical stores to survive. Can one store really support three generations? What if it turns out to be three generations supporting one store instead? He argued back, saying that no matter how powerful e-commerce is, people still need to eat. In places with high foot traffic, a restaurant in a shop won't lose money! I couldn't argue with him, and he took out a loan of nearly ten million to purchase the shop. Later, I moved back to my hometown and lost touch with him. I only heard that he was still repaying the loan, his son took over the payments, and due to foreign capital withdrawal, three years of epidemics, a significant decrease in foot traffic, and multiple reductions in rent, he couldn't rent out the shop! He spent his days in worry and sighs! I never expected that my words would come true.