A Maryland acquisition is a financed going concern. If the recast and the count cannot support the note, walk.
Plan a dark stretch on food stamps in Maryland while the incoming owner waits on FNS. No SNAP-retailer headcount for Maryland appears here. The pack did not extract one. The only sourced sold-comp set here is BizBuySell grocery/supermarket. Use it in Maryland as context, then subtract lease and license holes.
The Maryland buy-side map
Baltimore City: Neighborhood independents and food-access sites; Korean/Latino corridors. Underwrite the lease and the SKU set before you fall in love with the city name. Montgomery County: Control-jurisdiction alcohol; high-income suburban and international independents. Underwrite the lease and the SKU set before you fall in love with the city name. Prince George’s County: African, Caribbean, and Latino independents. Underwrite the lease and the SKU set before you fall in love with the city name. Eastern Shore: Small-town independents; seasonal coastal volume. Underwrite the lease and the SKU set before you fall in love with the city name.
DOL’s July 1, 2026 consolidated table lists Maryland at $15.00. State minimum wage is above federal; some counties set higher floors. Confirm Maryland DLLR and the county.
Illustrative bands
Illustrative, not a quote. A worked Maryland sketch — not an offer — uses $218,053 of SDE and $153,264 of stockroom cost. Midpoint 2.55× lands near $709,299.
| Workstream | Who owns it | Why it slips |
|---|---|---|
| Retail food | Maryland Department of Health and county health departments | New operator, not a sticker |
| Alcohol | County liquor boards; Montgomery County Alcohol Beverage Services is a NABCA control jurisdiction | Approval, not a handshake |
| EBT | USDA FNS | New application |
| Inventory | Count crew | $153,264 illustrative cost |
Financing tools
Maryland wage levels belong in the payment model. A note that worked in a federal-wage state can fail here.
Re-authorization
- Call Maryland Department of Health and county health departments about the retail food file
- Hold back unsellable on the count
- Tie Maryland weekly sales to scan and EBT deposits
- Call County liquor boards; Montgomery County Alcohol Beverage Services is a NABCA control jurisdiction about incoming-owner steps
- Read drop minimums and over-advances
- Recast on market rent if the seller owns the box
- Model occupancy as a share of sales — no invented rent/sf
Keep reading buyer hub, how to buy, SBA 7(a), lease diligence. Sibling: sell in Maryland.
Count and lease
Register-tax reality in Maryland: Maryland generally exempts eligible food for home consumption from state sales tax. Confirm Comptroller food vs snack/prepared-food definitions.
Privilege file: County liquor boards; Montgomery County Alcohol Beverage Services is a NABCA control jurisdiction. Transfer note: County board must approve; Montgomery County ABS is a different model than a private package license.. Quota / local-option: County quotas and Sunday rules…
DOL’s July 1, 2026 table lists Maryland at $15.00. State minimum wage is above federal; some counties set higher floors. Confirm Maryland DLLR and the county.
Clearance practice: Confirm Comptroller tax clearance / successor liability on the asset sale.
Retail food: Maryland Department of Health and county health departments. WIC: Maryland Department of Health — WIC. Tobacco: Comptroller of Maryland.
Independents still take trips Giant Food (Ahold Delhaize) / Safeway (Albertsons Cos.) / Weis Markets / ShopRite (Wakefern) do not want. That is the Maryland pitch.
Wholesale names that show up: Wakefern Food Corp., C&S Wholesale Grocers, UNFI. Over-advances and personal guarantees travel.
Baltimore City: Neighborhood independents and food-access sites; Korean/Latino corridors. Price that pocket as its own trade area.
If the box sits in Montgomery County, say so in the teaser. Control-jurisdiction alcohol; high-income suburban and international independents.
Prince George’s County: African, Caribbean, and Latino independents. Price that pocket as its own trade area.
Drive Eastern Shore before you argue a multiple. Small-town independents; seasonal coastal volume.
Broker-list note (not a HedgeStone license claim): Published business-broker licensing lists do not consistently treat Maryland as a real-estate-license-for-brokerage state. That is not the same as “unregulated”: securities, franchise, and local rules can still apply, and lists conflict. 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 Baltimore food-access programs may apply; no dollar figure recorded.
Pockets
Giant Food (Ahold Delhaize) sets milk-and-egg price perception in parts of Maryland. Your independent still has to win trips that banner does not want.
Safeway (Albertsons Cos.) sets milk-and-egg price perception in parts of Maryland. Your independent still has to win trips that banner does not want.
A traveling buyer who only knows Weis Markets will mis-read a Maryland ethnic or rural box. Price the file, not the fascia they drove past.
Do not treat a ShopRite (Wakefern) circular as a Maryland comp. That banner is not in your CIM.
Ask whether Wakefern Food Corp. will keep the incoming operator. A Maryland close that ignores that book is a close that reopens.
Ask whether C&S Wholesale Grocers will keep the incoming operator. A Maryland close that ignores that book is a close that reopens.
UNFI terms in Maryland belong in the recast. Drop minimums and personal guarantees travel with the buyer.
Buyer note on Baltimore City: Neighborhood independents and food-access sites; Korean/Latino corridors. Drive it before you write an LOI.
Buyer note on Montgomery County: Control-jurisdiction alcohol; high-income suburban and international independents. Drive it before you write an LOI.
Buyer note on Prince George’s County: African, Caribbean, and Latino independents. Drive it before you write an LOI.
Buyer note on Eastern Shore: Small-town independents; seasonal coastal volume. Drive it before you write an LOI.
Incentives stay qualitative in Maryland: Federal HFFI and Baltimore food-access programs may apply; no dollar figure recorded.
Tobacco / health counterparties: Comptroller of Maryland. Food: Maryland Department of Health and county health departments.
DOL’s July 1, 2026 consolidated table lists Maryland at $15.00. State minimum wage is above federal; some counties set higher floors. Confirm Maryland DLLR and the county.
Maryland does not share one national grocery-tax story. Maryland generally exempts eligible food for home consumption from state sales tax. Confirm Comptroller food vs snack/prepared-food definitions. Sales-tax returns are a sales-corroboration tool here, not just a clearance tool.
If the store sells tickets, Maryland Lottery and Gaming is a separate retailer contract and is not part of the bill of sale.
Maryland buyers pay for proven earnings and a stockroom they can count — not for a vestibule story.
Assignment language on a Maryland lease is often the whole critical path.
Counsel should see UNFI and Safeway (Albertsons Cos.) before a Maryland exclusivity period starts.
Counsel should see UNFI and C&S Wholesale Grocers before a Maryland exclusivity period starts.
Counsel should see UNFI and Prince George’s County before a Maryland exclusivity period starts.
Counsel should see UNFI and African, Caribbean, and Latino independents. before a Maryland exclusivity period starts.
Maryland stays qualitative on Small-town independents; seasonal coastal volume. and County liquor boards; Montgomery County Alcohol Beverage Services is a NABCA control jurisdiction wherever the research pack left a null.
Maryland stays qualitative on Small-town independents; seasonal coastal volume. and $15.00 wherever the research pack left a null.
Maryland stays qualitative on Small-town independents; seasonal coastal volume. and ShopRite (Wakefern) wherever the research pack left a null.
Maryland stays qualitative on Small-town independents; seasonal coastal volume. and Baltimore City wherever the research pack left a null.
Counsel should see UNFI and Neighborhood independents and food-access sites; Korean/Latino corridors. before a Maryland exclusivity period starts.
Counsel should see UNFI and Maryland before a Maryland exclusivity period starts.
The honest Maryland teaser mentions C&S Wholesale Grocers in the same breath as Small-town independents; seasonal coastal volume..
Baltimore City is not decorative in Maryland. Neither is MD.
Buyers who understand C&S Wholesale Grocers still trip on Maryland Department of Health and county health departments in Maryland if the count is sloppy.
Put Baltimore City on a dated workplan. Put Comptroller of Maryland on the same Maryland workplan.
A lender reading C&S Wholesale Grocers next to Montgomery County will ask better Maryland questions than a listings tourist.
Baltimore City plus Eastern Shore is most of the non-price work on a Maryland independent.
Quiet process in Maryland means C&S Wholesale Grocers stays off the sales floor while Control-jurisdiction alcohol; high-income suburban and international independents. is still in motion.
Skip Baltimore City and you will meet Small-town independents; seasonal coastal volume. as a Maryland re-trade.
Operators already living with C&S Wholesale Grocers underwrite Weis Markets faster than tourists in Maryland.
Maryland files stall when Baltimore City is treated as a courtesy and Wakefern Food Corp. is treated as a surprise.
Maryland outreach should start with people who have already survived UNFI and Prince George’s County.
Maryland outreach should start with people who have already survived UNFI and African, Caribbean, and Latino independents..
The Monday after close in Maryland still needs UNFI and African, Caribbean, and Latino independents. to function.
The Monday after close in Maryland still needs UNFI and County liquor boards; Montgomery County Alcohol Beverage Services is a NABCA control jurisdiction to function.
Maryland outreach should start with people who have already survived Small-town independents; seasonal coastal volume. and County liquor boards; Montgomery County Alcohol Beverage Services is a NABCA control jurisdiction.
Maryland outreach should start with people who have already survived Small-town independents; seasonal coastal volume. and $15.00.
The Monday after close in Maryland still needs Small-town independents; seasonal coastal volume. and $15.00 to function.
The Monday after close in Maryland still needs Small-town independents; seasonal coastal volume. and ShopRite (Wakefern) to function.
Maryland outreach should start with people who have already survived UNFI and Maryland Department of Health — WIC.
Maryland outreach should start with people who have already survived UNFI and Safeway (Albertsons Cos.).
Put Baltimore City on a dated workplan. Put Wakefern Food Corp. on the same Maryland workplan.
A lender reading Prince George’s County next to UNFI will ask better Maryland questions than a listings tourist.
Put Neighborhood independents and food-access sites; Korean/Latino corridors. on a dated workplan. Put Control-jurisdiction alcohol; high-income suburban and international independents. on the same Maryland workplan.
A lender reading African, Caribbean, and Latino independents. next to Small-town independents; seasonal coastal volume. will ask better Maryland questions than a listings tourist.
Skip Maryland and you will meet Comptroller of Maryland as a Maryland re-trade.
Operators already living with County liquor boards; Montgomery County Alcohol Beverage Services is a NABCA control jurisdiction underwrite Giant Food (Ahold Delhaize) faster than tourists in Maryland.
Skip Maryland Department of Health — WIC and you will meet UNFI as a Maryland re-trade.
Operators already living with $15.00 underwrite Montgomery County faster than tourists in Maryland.
Put Baltimore City on a dated workplan. Put Comptroller of Maryland on the same Maryland workplan.
Worked numbers
Illustrative, not a quote. For a Maryland, recast SDE of $373,677 at 1.98×–3.26× plus $112,203 inventory at cost frames a going-concern band of about $852,083 to $1,330,390. The 2.29× midpoint lands near $967,923. Lease remaining term and license lag can move the check more than the multiple.
$1 trillion in 2025 supermarket sales (FMI). 2.1% average net profit for food retailers in 2025 (FMI Speaks sample). SBA 7(a) can finance a change of ownership; the published maximum is $5 million.
Read turns, DSD, wholesaler, asset sale. Cross-check how a sale works and the FAQ. Format pages live under sell an independent supermarket and buy an independent supermarket. Tools: valuation calculator, cash-to-close, rent checker.