Sell your liquor store business.

License class, allocation, and the cooler, not the sign

A package store sells on the license, the allocation of scarce spirits and wine, and a lease that still works if a chain opens down the road. Buyers underwrite transfer rules in your state—Texas and Pennsylvania are not the same process—and whether the license is a scarce asset or something a new operator can apply for. A full package license in a capped county is part of the price. A beer-and-wine permit that is widely available is not.

Distributor relationships and off-invoice programs do not always assign. If your margin depends on allocations that follow you personally, say so. Fine-wine books and a cold-beer cave are different working-capital stories.

How package-store earnings get normalized

Buyers compare invoices to shelf and to deposits. They ask about theft, owner consumption, and cash. Lottery, cigarettes, and grocery attach—if you have them—need their own margin. A store that is really a grocery with a liquor wall will be underwritten like a grocery.

Delivery apps and local delivery routes get haircut for labor and for whether the city allows a new owner to keep the same privilege. Sunday hours and local-option rules belong in the story you tell, or they come out when the buyer’s counsel reads the ordinance.

Transfers that wait on the control board, not the purchase agreement

Background checks, notices, and sometimes a dry gap sit on a board calendar. Landlords and distributors can add their own consent. We keep those on one timeline so you are not counting on a close the license cannot meet. That calendar should be in the letter of intent.

Prepare a category sales file, a simple allocation note, and the license class with any restrictions. If you own the building, we treat that as a parallel track. A short consulting week on the counter is normal; a seller who must stay to keep the allocations is a different deal.

The license and the allocation, priced on SDE

A package store the owner still runs is an SDE sale. After a real manager wage, those stores often trade around 2x–3.5x SDE. A staffed counter, a transferable quota or package license, and allocations that are the store's rather than yours often move toward 2.5x–4.5x SDE. A beer-and-wine permit that anyone can apply for is not the same asset. Managed multi-store groups priced near $10 million are more often read on adjusted EBITDA, commonly about 3x–6x. These ranges are directional, not a quote, and not legal, tax, or lending advice.

Buyers who already hold a license

The usual buyer is another retailer or a small local group that can clear the background check. A single package store is not a private-equity file. Cash that never hit the deposits does not get a multiple.

SBA 7(a) can fund a clean store when the license path and the lease are real. The SBA 7(a) cap is $5 million. Control-board timing can outlast a loan commitment, so the license calendar belongs in the letter of intent. This is not lending advice.

Florida quota licenses, and every other state's version

In Florida, a quota package license is a different asset from a widely available beer-and-wine permit, and the transfer sits with the state. Other states use a control board, a local option, or an open application. Bridge Point sells package stores nationally. The underwriting is the license class, the allocations, and a year of deposits that match the shelf.