So destroying their stock behind the counter with a Tommy Gun, gets them to their sweet spot. Because store owners have a limit to how much convincing is required before the fold, and a slightly higher limit to when they'd give you the place over their dead body. And this is a very cool aspect of the gameplay. Some clerks & owners will bend to your scary will, just by asking. The store-fronts must be taken over first. And it's this aspect of the game that I find most appealing. Starting in Little Italy, your home, you're pretty much free from the get-go, to drive out rival families from the store fronts, and the illegal venues they hide. Your secondary objective throughout the game, is to reclaim Corleone territory, thus earning you and the family money. Having played it for a good 15 hours, I am only 20% of the way through the main story. Just never anything as deep as the main storyline gameplay.

The one complaint I had about the GTA series (from which this game borrows the most), was that I never enjoyed the free roaming.