Grocery Store Business Broker · HedgeStone Business Advisors · Jason Taken
Last updated 2026-09-04
Commissary competition around NAS Jacksonville and Mayport shows up in scan — or it does not. Read the payday weeks from the tape; do not invent a payroll share. Publix, Winn-Dixie, and Aldi already set most of the conventional circular conversation in Duval. A Westside or Northside independent still clears when neighborhood hours and staple mix are real, and when any Florida quota liquor series is priced as a second asset beside store earnings. Jason Taken at Grocery Store Business Broker (HedgeStone Business Advisors) opens that North Florida file on the ABT series and the military ring first. Gather the beer/wine series, any quota paperwork, and three years of P&Ls, then book a confidential intro. Confirm timing at jason.taken@hedgestone.com.
Florida’s statewide maps are sell a grocery store in Florida and buy a grocery store in Florida. This page stays in Jacksonville: Southeastern banner weather rather than South Florida’s independent concentration, Duval County Health Department as the named local desk, and quota liquor when spirits are sold.
Westside and Northside neighborhood independents include African-American neighborhood stores and growing Hispanic independents. Recast produce, hours, and labor on that mix. Sell a neighborhood grocery and sell a Hispanic grocery are the format essays. Do not paste a Publix suburban earnings story onto a Northside independent. Keep corridor notes qualitative — no invented population share.
NAS Jacksonville and Mayport are part of the trade-area story in this pack. Ask for thirteen months of weekly scan so payday patterns are visible. Tie those weeks to EBT settlement the same way you tie any other week — verifying sales with scan data. A conventional Duval box and a Northside neighborhood box can share a metro name and not share a multiple argument.
The same metro holds conventional boxes that sit closer to Publix and Winn-Dixie on center-store. Those files still need a recast and occupancy as a share of sales. Inland rural independents appear in the Florida pack as a North Florida note — if that is your box, recast it as a rural file, not as a Beach Boulevard conventional. Sell an independent supermarket is the format essay.
Publix takes the default conventional trip in much of Duval. Winn-Dixie takes a Southeastern Grocers trip. Aldi takes price. The Westside or Northside independent has to explain which of those trips it still wins. Competition analysis is the method.
Associated Grocers of Florida, C&S, and UNFI appear as supply names. Confirm which house drops your store. Wholesaler and banner agreements when you sell stays off the sales floor while you work. Quiet packaging matters because neighborhood shoppers and warehouse reps talk — put the NDA in front of scan data. How to sell a grocery store confidentially is the worksheet.
Florida is a license state. Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco (DBPR) must approve. Beer and wine are commonly sold in grocery with the correct series. Florida is not on the grocery-spirits list in this pack. Package-store / quota liquor licenses are a limited series and a separate asset class. Verify county quota and whether the grocery owns or leases the license. Quota can have market value apart from the store. A CIM that folds quota into the SDE multiple will fail a lender who has bought Florida quota before. Quota license and liquor license due diligence are the worksheets. Tobacco also sits with ABT.
Retail food can sit with Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services or with county health depending on format. Duval County Health Department is the local desk named here. Confirm which file the address actually holds. Incoming operators file a new retail food operation. Red flags that should kill a grocery deal includes a quota license the grocery leases but the CIM treats as owned.
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, then code the Westside deli. State-by-state grocery sales tax is the statewide clip.
Ask Florida DOR counsel about tax-clearance and successor-liability practice. A repealed UCC Article 6 statute elsewhere does not erase Florida successor risk. Bulk sales and tax clearance belongs in the memo. If the building conveys, close it with Florida real-estate counsel. BizBuySell’s licensing note treats Florida as commonly requiring a real estate license for business brokerage — confirm the commission; this is not a claim that Jason holds that license.
Florida’s wage floor is $14.00 on the July 1, 2026 DOL WHD consolidated table. Confirm Florida DEO / DBPR posters before you model Duval payroll. Model labor on that floor, then on what this store pays. State-by-state minimum wage is the table.
Sellers who price from weekly sales alone sit through a recast. Restore owner pay. Keep invoice-backed one-time repairs. Pull personal spend. Take related-party rent to market if needed. Recasting a grocery P&L and preparing three years of financials are the homework. Pull department grosses — anatomy of a grocery P&L and shrink, margin, and turns.
Counsel and a CPA first, then a blind teaser that names a Westside or Northside format — not the only neighborhood box facing a Publix. Funded operators see the CIM after NDA. Managers hear when ABT, quota, or assignment needs them.
Most city independents lease. Confirm the file. Put assignment in the LOI. This pack left Jacksonville asking rent null — do not invent a dollar-per-foot. Occupancy is rent as a share of sales from the actual lease. Lease due diligence and the rent checker are the tools. If the seller owns real estate, split the assets — selling with a lease versus real estate.
Inventory counts at cost. Hold back unsellable. How inventory is counted at closing is the night procedure. Read drop minimums before you assume the wholesaler agreement.
USDA FNS issues SNAP retailer authorization to named owners. The Jacksonville buyer files a new application; the seller’s EBT permission does not convey. Plan cash for the gap if EBT is material — including any military payday pattern the scan shows. Write the filing into the LOI. What happens to SNAP authorization when you sell and EBT and SNAP due diligence are the notes.
WIC sits with Florida Department of Health. Florida Lottery is a separate retailer conversation. WIC, lottery, tobacco belongs on the same calendar as beer and wine.
An SBA 7(a) loan can finance a change of ownership up to the published $5 million ceiling. If quota liquor is in the deal, the bank may want that asset valued apart from the going concern — SBA 7(a) for grocery acquisitions. Seller financing can bridge privilege lag. Working capital has to cover SNAP lag, ABT, Duval health, and an Associated Grocers of Florida or C&S drop. How much working capital and buyer cash to close are the worksheets. Federal HFFI may apply; this pack records no dollar figure for Jacksonville.
People are the asset. A meat cutter who stays ninety days is worth writing into the LOI — transition periods and employees and WARN.
National grocery sold multiples from BizBuySell (3.38× earnings in 2025; 2.66× five-year; IQR 1.60–3.15; 0.43× revenue) are a listing-site band, not a North Florida ask. Quota liquor lag and remaining lease term usually move the check more than “Jacksonville” on the teaser. Method pages: valuation hub and how to value a grocery store.
Buyers shopping a Florida search should treat Jacksonville as North Florida files, not as a Miami paste. Sequence ABT, Duval health, SNAP, Florida Lottery, landlord, and quota if spirits are in the file. The LOI terms that matter for buyers is the longer list. Timeline to sell is the calendar. Do not paste Little Havana or Orlando tourism files onto this essay.
If spirits are sold, county quota and ownership versus lease of the license are two diligence questions. Quota can carry market value apart from recast SDE. A bank may escrow that asset separately. Beer and wine remain the common grocery privilege. Quota license is the vocabulary. Red flags includes a leased quota the CIM treats as owned.
Associated Grocers of Florida, C&S, and UNFI all appear as supply names. Confirm which house drops the Westside or Northside box. Drop minimums still hit while ABT and FNS move. NAS Jacksonville and Mayport payday cycles belong in scan diligence — not as an invented sales share. Ask for thirteen months of weekly rings.
Florida’s $14.00 wage floor is part of the recast. Confirm Florida DEO / DBPR posters. Candy, many beverages, and prepared food are among sales-tax exceptions even when grocery food is generally exempt — code the deli to DOR TIP publications. Evaluating a store’s P&L is the test.
Do not paste Miami–Dade or Orlando tourism files onto this essay. Jacksonville is North Florida: Southeastern banner weather, neighborhood independents, and a military ring. BizBuySell’s Florida brokerage-license note is a diligence call — not a claim that Jason holds that license.
Retail food may sit with Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services or with Duval County Health depending on format. Confirm which file the address holds before you lock a close date. Beach Boulevard conventional boxes and Northside neighborhood boxes can share a metro name and not share a multiple argument. Inland rural independents in the Florida pack are a different recast — treat them as rural files, not as Beach Boulevard conventionals.
Florida Lottery and WIC (Florida Department of Health) belong on the same calendar as beer and wine. WIC, lottery, tobacco is the checklist. Tobacco sits with ABT. Invent neither a military sales share nor a rent-per-foot.
Quota lag and Duval health lag can put two Duval boxes on different close calendars even when both face Publix. Write ABT, quota if present, Duval health, SNAP, and landlord consent as dated steps. A Mayport payday week that does not appear in thirteen months of scan is not a diligence fact — invent no sales share.
Bring the lease, three years of returns, the beer/wine series, any quota license, and an honest note on who runs the Westside or Northside floor. Grocery Store Business Broker will not invent a metro population, a grocery-density figure, a rent range, or a military sales share. We will recast the store you run and map ABT, Duval health, SNAP, and occupancy from this lease.
Book a confidential intro to start that file. Email jason.taken@hedgestone.com if you want the hour in writing. About Jason Taken is the desk. Bring the quota file if spirits are sold. The next step is the ABT calendar and the recast, not a vestibule sign.
Price language for Buy or sell a Jacksonville grocery is (recast SDE x a defendable multiple) + inventory at cost, plus or minus lease and license risk. The table is one consistent example for this URL. Metro pages talk corridors and operators. They do not invent asking rents or establishment counts.
| Input or output | Illustrative figure |
|---|---|
| Weekly sales (illustrative) | $228,000 |
| Annual sales | $11,856,000 |
| Recast SDE | $687,648 (5.8% of sales) |
| Inventory at cost | $658,667 (~18 turns) |
| Occupancy check | $438,672 / year (3.7% of sales) |
| Low going-concern | $1,827,669 at 1.70x SDE + inventory |
| High going-concern | $2,824,758 at 3.15x SDE + inventory |
| Sketch DSCR on a note | 1.55 |
Inventory is cash at close, not a multiple. Confusing the two is how sellers over-ask and buyers under-cash the wire.
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 TakenBeer and wine are commonly sold in grocery with the correct license. Florida is not treated here as a grocery-spirits aisle state. Package-store / quota liquor licenses are a separate asset class with county quota. ABT must approve; quota licenses can have market value apart from the store. Verify whether the grocery owns or leases the license.
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (retail food) and/or county health, depending on format. Duval County Health Department is the local desk named in this pack. Incoming operators file as a new retail food operation.
Westside / Northside neighborhood independents include African-American neighborhood stores and growing Hispanic independents. Recast produce, hours, and labor on that mix. Do not paste a Publix suburban earnings story onto that floor.
Military installations are part of the trade-area story in this pack. Underwrite who actually shops the box — including commissary competition and payday cycles — from the store’s scan data. This page does not invent a headcount or a sales share.
DOL’s July 1, 2026 consolidated table lists Florida at $14.00. Confirm Florida DEO / DBPR posters for the store you are buying.
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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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