So... I have a pet store that I'd like to be available and open to the public. However, the owner of the store also lives upstairs so my question is, what settings do I need for the lot to work properly as a custom store and as a lot with a family living in?

I think you can use this: http://www.simlogical.com/ContentUpload ... oads/1078/

If the lot in question is a residential lot, this will work but you won't have any customers unless you invite some sims over or throw parties constantly. Sims cannot "see" what is on a residential lot unless/until they have been lot greeted so they can gain access. Where the ticket machine mod that tamalinn links to comes in handy is that it does the summoning of sims and the lot greeting for you. Be careful with its settings, it's very fussy and you could end up with The Traffic Jam of the Century and 200 sims trying to get onto your lot if you go just a bit too far overboard.

If the lot in question is a community lot, living there can be arranged by way of MC > Add Sim once the relevant option to allow sims to live on community lots is engaged. There are some gotchas, though. If the lot type dictates a closing hour, your sims will be shoved outside at that time along with everyone else even though it's also their home. They should be able to go back inside, though. The household also does not get a mailbox that way, so an actively played household will miss out on some stuff and will require a solution such as Automatic Active Billing from SP Money to pay bills by way of debit rather than checks written at the mailbox.

A third way to do this is to have your sims "live" on a 10x10 residential (it can be mostly empty if desired) adjacent or really nearby to the community lot with the store that they also own and spend most of their time on the community lot. That solves the mailbox problem. But inactives probably won't understand that structure and will keep trying to "go home" to the tiny empty lot whenever they can.

Thanks both! I see what I figure out with this case...