A Montana acquisition is a financed going concern. If the recast and the count cannot support the note, walk.
FNS will not let a buyer keep the seller’s EBT permit in Montana. File a new retailer application. Establishment tallies for Montana are a hole in the pack, not a guess on this page. The only sourced sold-comp set here is BizBuySell grocery/supermarket. Use it in Montana as context, then subtract lease and license holes.
The Montana buy-side map
Billings: Largest Montana independent/banner market. Underwrite the lease and the SKU set before you fall in love with the city name. Missoula / Bozeman: University and in-migration; specialty independents. Underwrite the lease and the SKU set before you fall in love with the city name. Great Falls / Helena: Military and capital-region stores. Underwrite the lease and the SKU set before you fall in love with the city name. Reservation and Hi-Line towns: Single-store markets; logistics dominate. Underwrite the lease and the SKU set before you fall in love with the city name.
DOL’s July 1, 2026 consolidated table lists Montana at $10.85 (DOL footnote: a Montana business not covered by the FLSA whose gross annual sales are $110,000 or less may pay $4.00 per hour). State minimum wage is above federal (DOL table, with a small-business footnote). Confirm DLI posters.
Illustrative bands
Illustrative, not a quote. Montana example only: $366,805 SDE, $124,134 inventory, band $828,400–$1,173,196. Lease remaining term can move that more than the multiple.
| Owner | Desk | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Retail food | Montana DPHHS / local sanitarians | New operator, not a sticker |
| Alcohol | Montana Department of Revenue, Alcoholic Beverage Control Division | Approval, not a handshake |
| EBT | USDA FNS | New application |
| Inventory | Count crew | $124,134 illustrative cost |
Financing tools
Montana wage levels belong in the payment model. A note that worked in a federal-wage state can fail here.
Re-authorization
- Call Montana DPHHS / local sanitarians about the retail food file
- Hold back unsellable on the count
- Tie Montana weekly sales to scan and EBT deposits
- Call Montana Department of Revenue, Alcoholic Beverage Control Division 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 DSCR, SNAP, buyer hub, how to buy. Sibling: sell in Montana.
Count and lease
Counsel still confirms the closing-date rate. The pack’s Montana note reads: No state sales tax. Montana does not levy a general retail sales tax on groceries.
Privilege file: Montana Department of Revenue, Alcoholic Beverage Control Division. Transfer note: DOR must approve; agency agreements are not automatic with the grocer’s asset sale.. Quota / local-option: Agency appointments are limited…
Montana labor: $10.85 (DOL footnote: a Montana business not covered by the FLSA whose gross annual sales are $110,000 or less may pay $4.00 per hour). State minimum wage is above federal (DOL table, with a small-business footnote). Confirm DLI posters.
Clearance practice: No sales tax; confirm DOR business-tax clearance on the entity or asset sale.
Retail food: Montana DPHHS / local sanitarians. WIC: Montana DPHHS — WIC. Tobacco: Montana Department of Revenue.
Albertsons / Safeway (Albertsons Cos.) is the name buyers mention first. The rest of the set is Town Pump / Town & Country (regional), Walmart.
Wholesale names that show up: Associated Food Stores, UNFI, URM Stores. Over-advances and personal guarantees travel.
Billings: Largest Montana independent/banner market. Price that pocket as its own trade area.
Missoula / Bozeman: University and in-migration; specialty independents. Price that pocket as its own trade area.
Drive Great Falls / Helena before you argue a multiple. Military and capital-region stores.
Reservation and Hi-Line towns: Single-store markets; logistics dominate. Price that pocket as its own trade area.
Broker-list note (not a HedgeStone license claim): Published business-broker licensing lists do not consistently treat Montana 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: Rural grocery preservation is a recurring theme; do not invent a grant amount. USDA / state notices.
Pockets
Albertsons / Safeway (Albertsons Cos.) sets milk-and-egg price perception in parts of Montana. Your independent still has to win trips that banner does not want.
Town Pump / Town & Country (regional) sets milk-and-egg price perception in parts of Montana. Your independent still has to win trips that banner does not want.
Walmart sets milk-and-egg price perception in parts of Montana. Your independent still has to win trips that banner does not want.
Associated Food Stores terms in Montana belong in the recast. Drop minimums and personal guarantees travel with the buyer.
UNFI terms in Montana belong in the recast. Drop minimums and personal guarantees travel with the buyer.
URM Stores terms in Montana belong in the recast. Drop minimums and personal guarantees travel with the buyer.
Buyer note on Billings: Largest Montana independent/banner market. Drive it before you write an LOI.
Buyer note on Missoula / Bozeman: University and in-migration; specialty independents. Drive it before you write an LOI.
Buyer note on Great Falls / Helena: Military and capital-region stores. Drive it before you write an LOI.
Buyer note on Reservation and Hi-Line towns: Single-store markets; logistics dominate. Drive it before you write an LOI.
Incentives stay qualitative in Montana: Rural grocery preservation is a recurring theme; do not invent a grant amount. USDA / state notices.
Tobacco / health counterparties: Montana Department of Revenue. Food: Montana DPHHS / local sanitarians.
DOL’s July 1, 2026 consolidated table lists Montana at $10.85 (DOL footnote: a Montana business not covered by the FLSA whose gross annual sales are $110,000 or less may pay $4.00 per hour). State minimum wage is above federal (DOL table, with a small-business footnote). Confirm DLI posters.
Prepared food, fountain, and hot-to-go often sit in a different bucket than center-store grocery. No state sales tax. Montana does not levy a general retail sales tax on groceries. Local add-ons can survive a state exemption.
Montana Lottery must re-paper the incoming operator. Treat it as a third-party consent, not an asset that “goes with the keys.”
A Montana CIM that skips SDE and inventory at cost is a brochure.
If the MT box has under 24 months left, say so in the teaser. That is a price cut.
Write Montana DPHHS — WIC into the LOI beside Albertsons / Safeway (Albertsons Cos.) before anyone in Montana tours.
Write Montana into the LOI beside Great Falls / Helena before anyone in Montana tours.
Write Largest Montana independent/banner market. into the LOI beside Montana Department of Revenue, Alcoholic Beverage Control Division before anyone in Montana tours.
Write Billings into the LOI beside Associated Food Stores before anyone in Montana tours.
Sellers who bury Albertsons / Safeway (Albertsons Cos.) under University and in-migration; specialty independents. in Montana get a price cut later.
Sellers who bury Montana DPHHS / local sanitarians under Montana Department of Revenue in Montana get a price cut later.
Sellers who bury Single-store markets; logistics dominate. under Billings in Montana get a price cut later.
Sellers who bury Reservation and Hi-Line towns under Montana in Montana get a price cut later.
Write Missoula / Bozeman into the LOI beside Town Pump / Town & Country (regional) before anyone in Montana tours.
Write Associated Food Stores into the LOI beside Reservation and Hi-Line towns before anyone in Montana tours.
Quiet process in Montana means University and in-migration; specialty independents. stays off the sales floor while Military and capital-region stores. is still in motion.
Skip Montana DPHHS / local sanitarians and you will meet Largest Montana independent/banner market. as a Montana re-trade.
Operators already living with Associated Food Stores underwrite Great Falls / Helena faster than tourists in Montana.
Montana files stall when Reservation and Hi-Line towns is treated as a courtesy and Billings is treated as a surprise.
The honest Montana teaser mentions Montana Department of Revenue, Alcoholic Beverage Control Division in the same breath as Walmart.
Town Pump / Town & Country (regional) is not decorative in Montana. Neither is Albertsons / Safeway (Albertsons Cos.).
Buyers who understand Great Falls / Helena still trip on Montana Department of Revenue in Montana if the count is sloppy.
Put Montana on a dated workplan. Put Montana DPHHS / local sanitarians on the same Montana workplan.
A lender reading Albertsons / Safeway (Albertsons Cos.) next to Single-store markets; logistics dominate. will ask better Montana questions than a listings tourist.
Billings plus University and in-migration; specialty independents. is most of the non-price work on a Montana independent.
A CIM that names Montana Department of Revenue, Alcoholic Beverage Control Division but hides $10.85 (DOL footnote: a Montana business not covered by the FLSA whose gross annual sales are $110,000 or less may pay $4.00 per hour) is not a Montana CIM.
A CIM that names Military and capital-region stores. but hides Missoula / Bozeman is not a Montana CIM.
Ask how Great Falls / Helena interacts with Montana Department of Revenue, Alcoholic Beverage Control Division on this Montana lease and this privilege.
Ask how UNFI interacts with Associated Food Stores on this Montana lease and this privilege.
A CIM that names Montana Department of Revenue but hides Military and capital-region stores. is not a Montana CIM.
A CIM that names MT but hides $10.85 (DOL footnote: a Montana business not covered by the FLSA whose gross annual sales are $110,000 or less may pay $4.00 per hour) is not a Montana CIM.
Ask how University and in-migration; specialty independents. interacts with Great Falls / Helena on this Montana lease and this privilege.
Ask how Missoula / Bozeman interacts with Montana Department of Revenue, Alcoholic Beverage Control Division on this Montana lease and this privilege.
A CIM that names URM Stores but hides Albertsons / Safeway (Albertsons Cos.) is not a Montana CIM.
A CIM that names Town Pump / Town & Country (regional) but hides Great Falls / Helena is not a Montana CIM.
Skip Billings and you will meet Missoula / Bozeman as a Montana re-trade.
Operators already living with Military and capital-region stores. underwrite URM Stores faster than tourists in Montana.
Skip Montana DPHHS — WIC and you will meet Walmart as a Montana re-trade.
Operators already living with Associated Food Stores underwrite Albertsons / Safeway (Albertsons Cos.) faster than tourists in Montana.
Reservation and Hi-Line towns is not decorative in Montana. Neither is Montana DPHHS — WIC.
Buyers who understand MT still trip on Montana Department of Revenue, Alcoholic Beverage Control Division in Montana if the count is sloppy.
Worked numbers
Illustrative, not a quote. For a Montana, recast SDE of $296,024 at 1.82×–3.08× plus $131,221 inventory at cost frames a going-concern band of about $669,985 to $1,042,975. The 2.59× midpoint lands near $897,923. 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 lease diligence, liquor transfer, recasting a P&L. 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.