You've got it exactly right. I found data showing that the restaurant/cafe industry (publicly traded ones, anyway) earn gross margins between 25-70%, depending

You've got it exactly right. I found data showing that the restaurant/cafe industry (publicly traded ones, anyway) earn gross margins between 25-70%, depending on the company and how they account for COGS versus operating expenses (the real number, measuring only the raw inputs of goods per sale, is toward the higher end of that range). Retail is all about generating enough volume to cover fixed expenses.