Grocery Store Business Broker · HedgeStone Business Advisors · Jason Taken
Last updated 2026-09-04
Control state — A jurisdiction where the state or a county is the wholesaler, and often the retailer, of distilled spirits, per the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association. NABCA lists seventeen control states; some additional local jurisdictions, including Montgomery County, Maryland, use the model.
Open the NABCA directory before you write “liquor license” on a grocery CIM. Grocery Store Business Broker — HedgeStone Business Advisors, led by Jason Taken — treats spirits, beer, and wine as separate files. Book a confidential intro with the alcohol list and the last agency correspondence. Email jason.taken@hedgestone.com if you want that hour. State-by-state alcohol regime is the longer map.
In a control jurisdiction the state (or a county) stands in the wholesale lane for distilled spirits and often operates the retail store that sells them. That is why “the grocery liquor license” is usually the wrong phrase in Pennsylvania or Utah: spirits sit in the state store system. The supermarket may still sell beer, or beer and wine, under a different class. License-state files — where private wholesalers and private retailers handle spirits — are a different map. Do not import a license-state story onto a control-state box.
NABCA’s directory is the sourced count: seventeen control states, plus additional local control jurisdictions in places such as Alaska, Maryland, Minnesota, and South Dakota. NABCA also describes “18 control jurisdictions” when counting Montgomery County, Maryland. Use the directory for the current list. Do not invent a eighteenth state from memory.
Price what the grocery actually sells. A beer-only set, a beer-and-wine set, and a full spirits set are three different cash-flow and diligence stories. Liquor license is the grocery term for the permit you actually hold. A quota license is a scarcity rule in some license states; it is not a synonym for control. What happens if the liquor license is quota? belongs on quota files. Control files need the agency that runs the state store and the class that covers beer or wine.
Does a liquor license transfer when I sell? depends on the class and the agency. Transferring your liquor license and liquor license due diligence are the clocks. Control changes who holds spirits. It does not cancel beer, wine, food, or tobacco applications. Write each clock next to the recast so a lender can see coverage on a story they believe.
Name beer, wine, and spirits as separate lines. Say who wholesales spirits. Say whether a state store sits in the same center or across the lot — that is competition and convenience, not a transferable asset. Do not write that a grocery spirits license conveys if the state retails the bottles. Do not bury a beer-and-wine transfer inside “licenses to be assigned.”
Inventory night follows the same split. Spirits on a grocery floor in a license state are countable product. Spirits that never sit in the grocery because the state retails them are not in the room. Count what is on the shelf you are buying.
If you have the alcohol list and the state’s current classes, book the control-state conversation. Bring permits, the last correspondence, and a note on whether a state store shares the parking lot. The hour is for beer, wine, and spirits as three files.
Use this napkin recast on Grocery alcohol in a control state when you book the call. It is labeled illustrative. BizBuySell's 2025 grocery sold-business earnings multiple averaged 3.38, with a 2021-2025 IQR of 1.60-3.15.
| Input or output | Illustrative figure |
|---|---|
| Weekly sales (illustrative) | $168,000 |
| Annual sales | $8,736,000 |
| Recast SDE | $410,592 (4.7% of sales) |
| Inventory at cost | $436,800 (~20 turns) |
| Occupancy check | $305,760 / year (3.5% of sales) |
| Low going-concern | $1,257,984 at 2.00x SDE + inventory |
| High going-concern | $1,545,398 at 2.70x SDE + inventory |
| Sketch DSCR on a note | 1.51 |
If weekly sales or shrink move 8 percent, the SDE and the note move with them. That is why Jason Taken starts with scan data and the lease, not with a neighbor's rumor multiple.
Book the intro call with your side of the table ready: seller files or buyer capital. The calendar is the only next step.
Print these, mark them up, and bring the marked copy to the intro. They are educational. They are not a valuation letter and not a listing. All downloadable guides.
Have the file ready so the hour is a recast, not a scavenger hunt. Then pick a time.
Get a specialist on the other side of the table
Grocery deals turn on licenses, inventory, and a recast a lender will believe. Book the intro and bring the file.
Book an Intro Call With Jason TakenA jurisdiction where the state or a county is the wholesaler of distilled spirits and often the retailer as well. NABCA lists seventeen control states, plus additional local control jurisdictions. The directory is the source, not a rumor about “dry states.”
Often yes, under a separate class or permit. Spirits may remain in the state store. Do not collapse beer, wine, and spirits into one asset called “the liquor license.” Read the state’s current classes.
Name beer, wine, and spirits as separate files. Say who wholesales spirits. Say whether a state store sits in the same center. Do not write that a grocery spirits license conveys if the state retails the bottles.
Yes. Beer and wine transfers, quota rules where they exist, and any agency consent still have clocks. Control changes who holds spirits. It does not cancel the rest of the alcohol calendar.
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Whether you are exiting or acquiring, pick a time and we will talk through the file.
Book an Intro Call With Jason TakenThis page is educational information from Grocery Store Business Broker (HedgeStone Business Advisors). It is not legal, tax, or investment advice. Licensing, tax, and financing rules vary by state and deal. Confirm every item with counsel and your lender before you sign.
Ready when you are. Jason Taken will talk through the file.
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