[cbloom]

A lot of the time it's because the guy took out a loan to open the Deli and still hasn't paid it off and can't get credit (or doesn't want to risk it) to open a new Deli. If the guy's an immigrant, he may have zero credit and the loan may be from individuals charging huge interest.

Deli-owner guy usually will stop working there every day once the loan is paid off and the business is profitable, but a lot of those businesses are very marginal. Even better is to let your kids run it so you don't have to pay a salary.

Most young American business kids want to either go big or go broke, they'll take a big risk with a lot more capital investment and try to start a franchise business. That's great when it works but it's way higher risk. Most of these deli owner guys just want to have a steady job that supports their family, so they don't want to make a big risky capital outlay, they'd rather try to grind up a steady living.