I know they are big on building new stores that fit their prototypes.

What is HUD Store and can this be used to get properties at a discount ? 

I'm a designer, therapist and wholesaler(retail store items).I've done a lot of the Guru stuff in the past.

You might want to look for a place with a store front and apartments above it.  

If I may ask, do you buy all of your materials at the retail stores then have local handypersons do the labor for you?  

True there is a lot of foreign money in both places but I think the number of people buying apartments in NYC as just a place to store money and go once in a while is probably higher than NYC and it defines the super lux segment here.2) I have never seen people so willing to cram themselves into tiny spaces than in NYC.

If you have a clothing store and you buy a shirt, pay cash, run it through the register and the books as any other sale, that is not significant to your total sales and is fine.

I'm looking for gas stations, liquor stores, convenient stores (like 7-11), generally retail stores that does well in a recession...

Pick up the free publications at the grocery store with real estate, go to open houses, look at the different types of cabinets and finish work, floors, etc., so that you will know what you get for the money, etc.

Two more recommended reads>>>1) Fixing and Flipping Real Estate: Strategies for the Post-Boom Era by Marty Boardman2) The Book on Flipping Houses: How to Buy, Rehab, and Resell Residential Properties by J Scott and available at the BP store.