These are very hard businesses to run.

Pubs have to deal with liquor licenses, rowdy clients, high staff turnover, and very high rents to be anywhere other than a dive.

Bakeries have extremely high turnover, razor thin margins, expensive equipment, large kitchen, odd hours, and significant hours

Gas stations are all franchises. It is notoriously difficult to make money on a franchise (e.g., you might make 30 or 40k a year take home) and there are huge lists of things that a franchisee can be penalized for. Plus you are hiring the least educated staff on earth and have to deal with all that shit.

Compared to white collar work, which can pay 4-8x what you'd make doing any one of these, for a fraction of the headache.

This is a downright bizarre list of "no risk" businesses. The first two of your examples are both restaurants. Enough said on that. The last one is a franchise that sells a highly regulated commodity product from a brick and mortar storefront. I mean geez... what do you consider to be hard business?

Do you know how many pubs and bakeries fail?

"Pubs close at a rate of 18 a week as people stay at home more" (BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45086080 ).

As for "well placed gas station" that's factored in in paying enormously for the location.