If you want to exit a Colorado grocery, start with a recast — not a rumor multiple — and treat SNAP as a new-owner application.
Colorado buyers who model EBT as uninterrupted are modeling fiction. USDA says the permit does not move. Colorado deserves sourced counts. Until Census is pulled, you get qualitative structure instead. A 0.43 revenue multiple (2025 BizBuySell grocery sample) is a sanity check in Colorado, not a pricing law.
Where independents still win in Colorado
If your box sits in Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, say so early. Core independent and Hispanic/Asian corridors. Confidential outreach should start with operators who already shop that corridor. Owners in Boulder / Front Range north should recast with that corridor’s hours and shrink in mind. Natural/organic independents. If your box sits in Colorado Springs, say so early. Military and suburban conventional. Confidential outreach should start with operators who already shop that corridor. Owners in Mountain resort towns should recast with that corridor’s hours and shrink in mind. Seasonal volume; high occupancy cost.
DOL’s July 1, 2026 consolidated table lists Colorado at $15.16. State minimum wage is above federal and is locality-adjusted in some mountain towns. Confirm Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.
Inventory plus earnings
Illustrative, not a quote. Colorado example only: $256,326 SDE, $172,057 inventory, band $584,742–$953,851. Lease remaining term can move that more than the multiple.
| Band | Sourced multiple | Colorado 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 |
Privilege transfer
- Put Colorado Department of Revenue, Liquor Enforcement Division (via Specialized Business Group) on a dated workplan
- Pull sales-tax filings for Colorado
- Write transition hours into the APA
- Abstract assignment, options, exclusive use
- List SNAP as a new-owner file
- Decide leasehold versus dirt before printing a number
- Estimate sellable stock at cost; plan count night
Keep reading SDE, inventory at cost, seller hub, confidential sale. Sibling: buy in Colorado.
Counsel items
CO food-tax treatment, as published: Colorado generally exempts food for home consumption from state sales tax. Local jurisdictions may tax food. Confirm Colorado Department of Revenue FYI Sales 4 and the store’s city/county rate.
Colorado Department of Revenue, Liquor Enforcement Division (via Specialized Business Group) runs a license system. Wine note: Grocery beer/wine privileges expanded in recent sessions; the current license type at the address.. Spirits note: Not on thegrocerystoreguy grocery-spirits “generally allow” list. whether the store holds a liquor-licensed drugstore or other privilege vs a standalone liquor store..
Colorado labor: $15.16. State minimum wage is above federal and is locality-adjusted in some mountain towns. Confirm Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.
Clearance practice: Confirm CDOR sales-tax successor liability / clearance on the asset sale.
Retail food: Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment and county health departments. WIC: Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment — WIC. Tobacco: Colorado Department of Revenue.
King Soopers / City Market (Kroger) is the name buyers mention first. The rest of the set is Safeway / Albertsons (Albertsons Cos.), Natural Grocers, Sprouts Farmers Market.
Wholesale names that show up: Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG), UNFI, C&S Wholesale Grocers. Over-advances and personal guarantees travel.
If the box sits in Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, say so in the teaser. Core independent and Hispanic/Asian corridors.
Boulder / Front Range north: Natural/organic independents. Price that pocket as its own trade area.
Colorado Springs: Military and suburban conventional. Price that pocket as its own trade area.
Mountain resort towns: Seasonal volume; high occupancy cost. Price that pocket as its own trade area.
Broker-list note (not a HedgeStone license claim): BizBuySell’s licensing article includes Colorado among states that commonly require a real estate license for business brokerage. Lists published by BizBuySell, IBBA-style summaries, and trade blogs conflict at the edges — confirm with the state real estate commission before relying on this for a specific mandate. 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 local healthy-food programs may apply; no dollar figure recorded.
Close timing
Do not treat a King Soopers / City Market (Kroger) circular as a Colorado comp. That banner is not in your CIM.
Safeway / Albertsons (Albertsons Cos.) sets milk-and-egg price perception in parts of Colorado. Your independent still has to win trips that banner does not want.
Natural Grocers sets milk-and-egg price perception in parts of Colorado. Your independent still has to win trips that banner does not want.
Sprouts Farmers Market sets milk-and-egg price perception in parts of Colorado. Your independent still has to win trips that banner does not want.
Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG) terms in Colorado belong in the recast. Drop minimums and personal guarantees travel with the buyer.
Ask whether UNFI will keep the incoming operator. A Colorado close that ignores that book is a close that reopens.
C&S Wholesale Grocers terms in Colorado belong in the recast. Drop minimums and personal guarantees travel with the buyer.
Seller note on Denver–Aurora–Lakewood: Core independent and Hispanic/Asian corridors. Package that corridor separately from a statewide teaser.
Seller note on Boulder / Front Range north: Natural/organic independents. Package that corridor separately from a statewide teaser.
Seller note on Colorado Springs: Military and suburban conventional. Package that corridor separately from a statewide teaser.
Seller note on Mountain resort towns: Seasonal volume; high occupancy cost. Package that corridor separately from a statewide teaser.
Incentives stay qualitative in Colorado: Federal HFFI and local healthy-food programs may apply; no dollar figure recorded.
Tobacco / health counterparties: Colorado Department of Revenue. Food: Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment and county health departments.
DOL’s July 1, 2026 consolidated table lists Colorado at $15.16. State minimum wage is above federal and is locality-adjusted in some mountain towns. Confirm Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.
A buyer who ignores grocery tax in Colorado will mis-read both margin and sales-tax filings. Colorado generally exempts food for home consumption from state sales tax. Local jurisdictions may tax food. Confirm Colorado Department of Revenue FYI Sales 4 and the store’s city/county rate. The CIM should say how the POS is coded, not just “food is exempt.”
Colorado Lottery must re-paper the incoming operator. Treat it as a third-party consent, not an asset that “goes with the keys.”
Colorado buyers pay for proven earnings and a stockroom they can count — not for a vestibule story.
Assignment language on a Colorado lease is often the whole critical path.
Outreach list
Tourist capital leaves Colorado when the wholesaler guarantee is personal or the SNAP mix is unexplained.
Checklist
Inventory night in Colorado is a process. Write the unsellable rules before anyone shows up.
Core independent and Hispanic/Asian corridors. is not decorative in Colorado. Neither is Natural/organic independents..
Buyers who understand Military and suburban conventional. still trip on Seasonal volume; high occupancy cost. in Colorado if the count is sloppy.
Put Colorado on a dated workplan. Put CO on the same Colorado workplan.
A lender reading Colorado Department of Revenue, Liquor Enforcement Division (via Specialized Business Group) next to Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment and county health departments will ask better Colorado questions than a listings tourist.
Core independent and Hispanic/Asian corridors. is not decorative in Colorado. Neither is Colorado Department of Revenue.
Buyers who understand Military and suburban conventional. still trip on King Soopers / City Market (Kroger) in Colorado if the count is sloppy.
Put Colorado on a dated workplan. Put Natural Grocers on the same Colorado workplan.
A lender reading Colorado Department of Revenue, Liquor Enforcement Division (via Specialized Business Group) next to Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG) will ask better Colorado questions than a listings tourist.
Core independent and Hispanic/Asian corridors. is not decorative in Colorado. Neither is King Soopers / City Market (Kroger).
Buyers who understand Military and suburban conventional. still trip on Natural Grocers in Colorado if the count is sloppy.
Sellers who bury Boulder / Front Range north under Core independent and Hispanic/Asian corridors. in Colorado get a price cut later.
Sellers who bury Boulder / Front Range north under Colorado in Colorado get a price cut later.
Colorado stays qualitative on Boulder / Front Range north and Colorado wherever the research pack left a null.
Colorado stays qualitative on Boulder / Front Range north and Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment — WIC wherever the research pack left a null.
Boulder / Front Range north in Colorado changes how UNFI is scheduled on a close calendar.
Boulder / Front Range north in Colorado changes how Colorado Springs is scheduled on a close calendar.
Write Boulder / Front Range north into the LOI beside Colorado Springs before anyone in Colorado tours.
Write Boulder / Front Range north into the LOI beside Military and suburban conventional. before anyone in Colorado tours.
Sellers who bury Natural Grocers under $15.16 in Colorado get a price cut later.
Sellers who bury Natural Grocers under Sprouts Farmers Market in Colorado get a price cut later.
Put Safeway / Albertsons (Albertsons Cos.) on a dated workplan. Put Natural Grocers on the same Colorado workplan.
A lender reading Sprouts Farmers Market next to Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG) will ask better Colorado questions than a listings tourist.
Safeway / Albertsons (Albertsons Cos.) plus C&S Wholesale Grocers is most of the non-price work on a Colorado independent.
Quiet process in Colorado means Sprouts Farmers Market stays off the sales floor while Boulder / Front Range north is still in motion.
Put Colorado Springs on a dated workplan. Put Mountain resort towns on the same Colorado workplan.
A lender reading Core independent and Hispanic/Asian corridors. next to Natural/organic independents. will ask better Colorado questions than a listings tourist.
Colorado Springs plus Seasonal volume; high occupancy cost. is most of the non-price work on a Colorado independent.
Quiet process in Colorado means Core independent and Hispanic/Asian corridors. stays off the sales floor while CO is still in motion.
Put Safeway / Albertsons (Albertsons Cos.) on a dated workplan. Put Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment and county health departments on the same Colorado workplan.
A lender reading Sprouts Farmers Market next to Colorado Department of Revenue will ask better Colorado questions than a listings tourist.
Colorado outreach should start with people who have already survived Colorado Department of Revenue and Safeway / Albertsons (Albertsons Cos.).
Colorado outreach should start with people who have already survived Colorado Department of Revenue and UNFI.
Colorado outreach should start with people who have already survived Natural Grocers and Colorado Springs.
Colorado outreach should start with people who have already survived Natural Grocers and Military and suburban conventional..
Colorado outreach should start with people who have already survived Colorado Department of Revenue and Colorado Springs.
Colorado outreach should start with people who have already survived Colorado Department of Revenue and Military and suburban conventional..
Colorado outreach should start with people who have already survived Natural Grocers and Colorado Department of Revenue, Liquor Enforcement Division (via Specialized Business Group).
Worked numbers
Illustrative, not a quote. For a Colorado, recast SDE of $258,488 at 1.87×–2.99× plus $209,938 inventory at cost frames a going-concern band of about $693,311 to $982,817. The 2.40× midpoint lands near $830,309. 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 DSCR, seller note, tax clearance, bulk sales. 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.