The Florida boxes that close are the ones where tax filings, EBT, and scan tell one story.
Florida buyers who model EBT as uninterrupted are modeling fiction. USDA says the permit does not move. This page will not print a Florida store census. CBP NAICS 445110 was left null. Five-year 2.66× is the boring Florida starting point. 2025’s 3.38 is the sample average, not your asking price.
Florida underwriting picture
A first look at Miami–Dade / Little Havana / Hialeah should include competing banners and parking, not just asking price. Largest Hispanic independent concentration in the Southeast. If you are shopping Broward / Palm Beach, budget SNAP re-authorization time into the model. Caribbean, South American, and Jewish/kosher corridors. A first look at Tampa Bay should include competing banners and parking, not just asking price. Mix of Publix-dominated suburbs and independents. If you are shopping Orlando, budget SNAP re-authorization time into the model. Tourism plus growing Hispanic independents. A first look at Jacksonville / North Florida should include competing banners and parking, not just asking price. More conventional Southeastern banners; rural independents inland.
DOL’s July 1, 2026 consolidated table lists Florida at $14.00. State minimum wage is above federal (DOL table). Confirm Florida DEO / DBPR posters; local living-wage rules are limited.
Availability without listings
Illustrative, not a quote. Florida example only: $317,977 SDE, $163,156 inventory, band $713,256–$1,177,503. Lease remaining term can move that more than the multiple.
| Band | Sourced multiple | Florida reading |
|---|---|---|
| Lower | 1.60 IQR floor | Messy lease or privilege |
| Mid | 2.66 five-year average | Ordinary clean file |
| Upper sample | 3.38 in 2025 | Only if the file is unusually clean |
Debt and equity
SBA 7(a) can finance a Florida change of ownership up to the published $5 million maximum. DSCR still has to clear on the recast.
New-owner stack
- Recast on market rent if the seller owns the box
- Model occupancy as a share of sales — no invented rent/sf
- Budget FNS downtime
- Drive the true corridor, not the city name
- Reject repeating “inventory adjustments” as add-backs
- Call Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (retail food) and/or county health, depending on format about the retail food file
- Hold back unsellable on the count
Keep reading SBA 7(a), lease diligence, P&L review, DSCR. Sibling: sell in Florida.
File tests
Counsel still confirms the closing-date rate. The pack’s Florida note reads: Florida generally exempts grocery food products for human consumption from state sales tax (with defined exceptions such as candy, many beverages, and prepared food). Confirm Florida DOR TIP publications for the register mix.
Do not assume supermarket spirits in Florida. Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco (DBPR) is the named authority.
Florida labor: $14.00. State minimum wage is above federal (DOL table). Confirm Florida DEO / DBPR posters; local living-wage rules are limited.
Clearance practice: Confirm Florida DOR tax-clearance / successor-liability practice on the asset sale.
Retail food: Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (retail food) and/or county health, depending on format. WIC: Florida Department of Health — WIC. Tobacco: Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco.
Independents still take trips Publix / Winn-Dixie / Harveys (Southeastern Grocers) / Aldi / Walmart do not want. That is the Florida pitch.
Wholesale names that show up: Associated Grocers of Florida, C&S Wholesale Grocers, UNFI. Over-advances and personal guarantees travel.
Miami–Dade / Little Havana / Hialeah is not “statewide Florida.” Largest Hispanic independent concentration in the Southeast.
Broward / Palm Beach: Caribbean, South American, and Jewish/kosher corridors. Price that pocket as its own trade area.
Tampa Bay: Mix of Publix-dominated suburbs and independents. Price that pocket as its own trade area.
Orlando: Tourism plus growing Hispanic independents. Price that pocket as its own trade area.
If the box sits in Jacksonville / North Florida, say so in the teaser. More conventional Southeastern banners; rural independents inland.
Broker-list note (not a HedgeStone license claim): BizBuySell’s licensing article includes Florida among states that commonly require a real estate license for business brokerage. Lists published by BizBuySell, IBBA-style summaries, and trade blogs conflict at the edges — confirm with the state real estate commission before relying on this for a specific mandate. If the deal includes real estate (the building or an interest in real property), a real estate license is required in every state. This sentence is not a claim that HedgeStone or Jason Taken holds a license in this state. Source: https://www.bizbuysell.com/learning-center/article/business-broker-licenses-certifications/ (accessed 2026-09-03).
Incentive language stays qualitative: Federal HFFI and local food-access programs may apply in Miami-Dade and rural counties; no dollar figure recorded.
Submarkets
A traveling buyer who only knows Publix will mis-read a Florida ethnic or rural box. Price the file, not the fascia they drove past.
A traveling buyer who only knows Winn-Dixie / Harveys (Southeastern Grocers) will mis-read a Florida ethnic or rural box. Price the file, not the fascia they drove past.
Do not treat a Aldi circular as a Florida comp. That banner is not in your CIM.
Do not treat a Walmart circular as a Florida comp. That banner is not in your CIM.
Associated Grocers of Florida terms in Florida belong in the recast. Drop minimums and personal guarantees travel with the buyer.
C&S Wholesale Grocers terms in Florida belong in the recast. Drop minimums and personal guarantees travel with the buyer.
Ask whether UNFI will keep the incoming operator. A Florida close that ignores that book is a close that reopens.
Buyer note on Miami–Dade / Little Havana / Hialeah: Largest Hispanic independent concentration in the Southeast. Drive it before you write an LOI.
Buyer note on Broward / Palm Beach: Caribbean, South American, and Jewish/kosher corridors. Drive it before you write an LOI.
Buyer note on Tampa Bay: Mix of Publix-dominated suburbs and independents. Drive it before you write an LOI.
Buyer note on Orlando: Tourism plus growing Hispanic independents. Drive it before you write an LOI.
Buyer note on Jacksonville / North Florida: More conventional Southeastern banners; rural independents inland. Drive it before you write an LOI.
Incentives stay qualitative in Florida: Federal HFFI and local food-access programs may apply in Miami-Dade and rural counties; no dollar figure recorded.
Tobacco / health counterparties: Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco. Food: Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (retail food) and/or county health, depending on format.
DOL’s July 1, 2026 consolidated table lists Florida at $14.00. State minimum wage is above federal (DOL table). Confirm Florida DEO / DBPR posters; local living-wage rules are limited.
The register mix in Florida is a diligence item, not a footnote. Florida generally exempts grocery food products for human consumption from state sales tax (with defined exceptions such as candy, many beverages, and prepared food). Confirm Florida DOR TIP publications for the register mix. The CIM should say how the POS is coded, not just “food is exempt.”
If the store sells tickets, Florida Lottery is a separate retailer contract and is not part of the bill of sale.
Florida buyers pay for proven earnings and a stockroom they can count — not for a vestibule story.
Assignment language on a Florida lease is often the whole critical path.
Put Winn-Dixie / Harveys (Southeastern Grocers) on a dated workplan. Put Orlando on the same Florida workplan.
A lender reading Caribbean, South American, and Jewish/kosher corridors. next to Aldi will ask better Florida questions than a listings tourist.
Winn-Dixie / Harveys (Southeastern Grocers) plus FL is most of the non-price work on a Florida independent.
Quiet process in Florida means Caribbean, South American, and Jewish/kosher corridors. stays off the sales floor while Orlando is still in motion.
Skip Winn-Dixie / Harveys (Southeastern Grocers) and you will meet FL as a Florida re-trade.
Operators already living with Caribbean, South American, and Jewish/kosher corridors. underwrite Orlando faster than tourists in Florida.
Florida files stall when Winn-Dixie / Harveys (Southeastern Grocers) is treated as a courtesy and Aldi is treated as a surprise.
The honest Florida teaser mentions Caribbean, South American, and Jewish/kosher corridors. in the same breath as FL.
Put Florida on a dated workplan. Put Aldi on the same Florida workplan.
A lender reading C&S Wholesale Grocers next to FL will ask better Florida questions than a listings tourist.
Write Associated Grocers of Florida into the LOI beside Winn-Dixie / Harveys (Southeastern Grocers) before anyone in Florida tours.
Write FL into the LOI beside Tourism plus growing Hispanic independents. before anyone in Florida tours.
Counsel should see Broward / Palm Beach and Tampa Bay before a Florida exclusivity period starts.
Counsel should see Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco and $14.00 before a Florida exclusivity period starts.
Write Associated Grocers of Florida into the LOI beside Florida before anyone in Florida tours.
Write FL into the LOI beside Miami–Dade / Little Havana / Hialeah before anyone in Florida tours.
Counsel should see Broward / Palm Beach and Winn-Dixie / Harveys (Southeastern Grocers) before a Florida exclusivity period starts.
Counsel should see Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco and Tourism plus growing Hispanic independents. before a Florida exclusivity period starts.
Write Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (retail food) and/or county health, depending on format into the LOI beside Florida before anyone in Florida tours.
Write Orlando into the LOI beside Miami–Dade / Little Havana / Hialeah before anyone in Florida tours.
Skip Miami–Dade / Little Havana / Hialeah and you will meet Mix of Publix-dominated suburbs and independents. as a Florida re-trade.
Operators already living with Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco (DBPR) underwrite UNFI faster than tourists in Florida.
Florida files stall when Jacksonville / North Florida is treated as a courtesy and Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco is treated as a surprise.
The honest Florida teaser mentions $14.00 in the same breath as Mix of Publix-dominated suburbs and independents..
Tourism plus growing Hispanic independents. is not decorative in Florida. Neither is Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco.
Buyers who understand Walmart still trip on Mix of Publix-dominated suburbs and independents. in Florida if the count is sloppy.
Put Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco (DBPR) on a dated workplan. Put UNFI on the same Florida workplan.
A lender reading Miami–Dade / Little Havana / Hialeah next to Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco will ask better Florida questions than a listings tourist.
$14.00 plus UNFI is most of the non-price work on a Florida independent.
Quiet process in Florida means Jacksonville / North Florida stays off the sales floor while Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco is still in motion.
A CIM that names FL but hides Walmart is not a Florida CIM.
A CIM that names Broward / Palm Beach but hides Florida is not a Florida CIM.
A CIM that names FL but hides Miami–Dade / Little Havana / Hialeah is not a Florida CIM.
A CIM that names Broward / Palm Beach but hides Florida Department of Health — WIC is not a Florida CIM.
If FL slips, Jacksonville / North Florida usually slips with it on a Florida grocery close.
If Broward / Palm Beach slips, Winn-Dixie / Harveys (Southeastern Grocers) usually slips with it on a Florida grocery close.
If FL slips, Tourism plus growing Hispanic independents. usually slips with it on a Florida grocery close.
If Broward / Palm Beach slips, C&S Wholesale Grocers usually slips with it on a Florida grocery close.