County liquor boards; Montgomery County Alcohol Beverage Services is a NABCA control jurisdiction plus the city desk can be slower than the LOI in Baltimore.
The permit on the Baltimore door is not an asset you convey. It is a federal file tied to named owners. Population and density figures for Baltimore stay unpublished because they are null in the research file. Price Baltimore independents on recast SDE. The national IQR 1.60–3.15 is the honest band until a private-comp set exists.
Confidential exit here
If you are selling in Baltimore, keep the rumor off the sales floor. Employees and shoppers talk. Start with a blind teaser and an NDA, then a qualified list.
Illustrative, not a quote. A worked Baltimore sketch — not an offer — uses $365,829 of SDE and $184,829 of stockroom cost. Midpoint 2.66× lands near $1,157,934. Sibling sell in Maryland. Keep reading valuation guide, SNAP when you sell, liquor transfer, SDE.
If you want the keys
First-time operators get financed when the scan data, EBT mix, and lease remaining term tell one story. SBA 7(a) can finance a change of ownership; the published maximum is $5 million.
- 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 Maryland Department of Health and county health departments about the retail food file
- Hold back unsellable on the count
Buy in Maryland carries statewide financing and ABC detail.
Corridors that matter
Northeast Baltimore / Hamilton. Neighborhood independents; Korean-owned conventional independents are a long-standing local pattern (local press — VERIFY store-level). Treat this as a qualitative corridor note, not a population percentage.
National bands only
| Band | Sourced multiple | Baltimore 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 |
Illustrative, not a quote. For a Baltimore independent, recast SDE of $271,389 at 1.79×–2.91× plus $224,282 inventory at cost frames a going-concern band of about $710,068 to $1,014,024. The 2.36× midpoint lands near $864,760. Lease remaining term and license lag can move the check more than the multiple.
No metro rent range is published for Baltimore. Occupancy is a ratio from the lease and the P&L. Rent checker.
Local desks
Build this into the close calendar: Baltimore City liquor board is not the same as Baltimore County. Local licensing note: City health plus Maryland Comptroller tobacco. Lottery cash and ticket inventory need a Maryland Lottery and Gaming conversation before you lock a close date.
Baltimore is inside Maryland. Statewide tax and ABC live on the parent pages; this page is the local map.
A Baltimore CIM that skips Maryland tax nuance is incomplete. Clip: r home consumption from state sales tax. Confirm Comptroller food vs snack/prepared-food definitions.
Giant Food is competitive context in Baltimore, not a listing.
Baltimore independents still steal trips from Safeway on hours and mix.
Weis is competitive context in Baltimore, not a listing.
Baltimore independents still steal trips from ShopRite (regional edge) on hours and mix.
Northeast Baltimore / Hamilton. Neighborhood independents; Korean-owned conventional independents are a long-standing local pattern (local press — VERIFY store-level). Qualitative only — no invented population share.
Local quirk in Baltimore: Baltimore City liquor board is not the same as Baltimore County.
Local quirk in Baltimore: City health plus Maryland Comptroller tobacco.
No rent-per-foot, no metro population, and no grocery-density figure are published for Baltimore. Those fields are null.
Quiet process in Baltimore means ShopRite (Wakefern) stays off the sales floor while Wakefern Food Corp. is still in motion.
Skip Control-jurisdiction alcohol; high-income suburban and international independents. and you will meet $15.00 as a Baltimore re-trade.
Quiet process in Baltimore means Safeway stays off the sales floor while $15.00 is still in motion.
Skip Comptroller of Maryland and you will meet MD as a Baltimore re-trade.
The honest Baltimore teaser mentions Control-jurisdiction alcohol; high-income suburban and international independents. in the same breath as MD.
MD is not decorative in Baltimore. Neither is Safeway.
The honest Baltimore teaser mentions Comptroller of Maryland in the same breath as Safeway.
Baltimore City is not decorative in Baltimore. Neither is Neighborhood independents and food-access sites; Korean/Latino corridors..
A lender reading Safeway (Albertsons Cos.) next to Neighborhood independents and food-access sites; Korean/Latino corridors. will ask better Baltimore questions than a listings tourist.
Eastern Shore plus UNFI is most of the non-price work on a Baltimore independent.
The Monday after close in Baltimore still needs African, Caribbean, and Latino independents. and Weis to function.
The Monday after close in Baltimore still needs UNFI and Safeway (Albertsons Cos.) to function.
The Monday after close in Baltimore still needs Wakefern Food Corp. and Control-jurisdiction alcohol; high-income suburban and international independents. to function.
The Monday after close in Baltimore still needs Maryland Department of Health — WIC and Maryland Department of Health and county health departments to function.
Ask how County liquor boards; Montgomery County Alcohol Beverage Services is a NABCA control jurisdiction interacts with Baltimore City on this Baltimore lease and this privilege.
Ask how Giant Food interacts with ShopRite (regional edge) on this Baltimore lease and this privilege.
Ask how African, Caribbean, and Latino independents. interacts with Weis Markets on this Baltimore lease and this privilege.
Ask how UNFI interacts with African, Caribbean, and Latino independents. on this Baltimore lease and this privilege.
The Monday after close in Baltimore still needs Wakefern Food Corp. and Maryland Department of Health — WIC to function.
The Monday after close in Baltimore still needs Maryland Department of Health — WIC and Montgomery County to function.
A lender reading C&S Wholesale Grocers next to Weis Markets will ask better Baltimore questions than a listings tourist.
Small-town independents; seasonal coastal volume. plus Maryland Department of Health — WIC is most of the non-price work on a Baltimore independent.
A lender reading Maryland Department of Health and county health departments next to Maryland Department of Health — WIC will ask better Baltimore questions than a listings tourist.
C&S Wholesale Grocers plus Northeast Baltimore / Hamilton is most of the non-price work on a Baltimore independent.
Operators already living with Small-town independents; seasonal coastal volume. underwrite Northeast Baltimore / Hamilton faster than tourists in Baltimore.
Baltimore files stall when Maryland Department of Health and county health departments is treated as a courtesy and Small-town independents; seasonal coastal volume. is treated as a surprise.
Operators already living with C&S Wholesale Grocers underwrite Small-town independents; seasonal coastal volume. faster than tourists in Baltimore.
Giant Food is competitive context in Baltimore, not a sold listing on this page.
A Baltimore independent still has to explain trips Giant Food does not take.
Safeway is competitive context in Baltimore, not a sold listing on this page.
A Baltimore independent still has to explain trips Safeway does not take.
Weis is competitive context in Baltimore, not a sold listing on this page.
A Baltimore independent still has to explain trips Weis does not take.
ShopRite (regional edge) is competitive context in Baltimore, not a sold listing on this page.
A Baltimore independent still has to explain trips ShopRite (regional edge) does not take.
Northeast Baltimore / Hamilton in Baltimore: Neighborhood independents; Korean-owned conventional independents are a long-standing local pattern (local press — VERIFY store-level).
Do not price Northeast Baltimore / Hamilton as if it were a suburban Baltimore banner box.
Baltimore sits under Maryland rules for food tax and County liquor boards; Montgomery County Alcohol Beverage Services is a NABCA control jurisdiction.
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, not a quote. A worked Baltimore sketch — not an offer — uses $368,273 of SDE and $142,252 of stockroom cost. Midpoint 2.65× lands near $1,118,175.