A Maryland grocery sale is won in the file: SDE, inventory at cost, lease assignment, and agency calendars.
Plan a dark stretch on food stamps in Maryland while the incoming owner waits on FNS. No SNAP-retailer headcount for Maryland appears here. The pack did not extract one. The only sourced sold-comp set here is BizBuySell grocery/supermarket. Use it in Maryland as context, then subtract lease and license holes.
Maryland structure, not a census
Baltimore City needs its own teaser. Neighborhood independents and food-access sites; Korean/Latino corridors. A buyer who only knows the capital will mis-price labor and mix. Montgomery County needs its own teaser. Control-jurisdiction alcohol; high-income suburban and international independents. A buyer who only knows the capital will mis-price labor and mix. Prince George’s County needs its own teaser. African, Caribbean, and Latino independents. A buyer who only knows the capital will mis-price labor and mix. Eastern Shore needs its own teaser. Small-town independents; seasonal coastal volume. A buyer who only knows the capital will mis-price labor and mix.
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.
Range, not a trophy
Illustrative, not a quote. Illustrative, not a quote: recast SDE $414,949 at 1.76×–2.80× plus $181,158 inventory at cost frames about $911,468 to $1,343,015 for a Maryland independent.
| Owner | Desk | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Retail food | Maryland Department of Health and county health departments | New operator, not a sticker |
| Alcohol | County liquor boards; Montgomery County Alcohol Beverage Services is a NABCA control jurisdiction | Approval, not a handshake |
| EBT | USDA FNS | New application |
| Inventory | Count crew | $181,158 illustrative cost |
Re-papering
- Put Maryland Department of Health and county health departments on the same calendar
- Read the wholesaler guarantee
- Recast three Maryland years into SDE a lender will believe
- Put County liquor boards; Montgomery County Alcohol Beverage Services is a NABCA control jurisdiction on a dated workplan
- Pull sales-tax filings for Maryland
- Write transition hours into the APA
- Abstract assignment, options, exclusive use
Keep reading confidential sale, valuation guide, SNAP when you sell, liquor transfer. Sibling: buy in Maryland.
Successor liability
Register-tax reality in Maryland: Maryland generally exempts eligible food for home consumption from state sales tax. Confirm Comptroller food vs snack/prepared-food definitions.
Do not assume supermarket spirits in Maryland. County liquor boards; Montgomery County Alcohol Beverage Services is a NABCA control jurisdiction is the named authority.
DOL’s July 1, 2026 table lists Maryland at $15.00. State minimum wage is above federal; some counties set higher floors. Confirm Maryland DLLR and the county.
Clearance practice: Confirm Comptroller tax clearance / successor liability on the asset sale.
Retail food: Maryland Department of Health and county health departments. WIC: Maryland Department of Health — WIC. Tobacco: Comptroller of Maryland.
Giant Food (Ahold Delhaize) is the name buyers mention first. The rest of the set is Safeway (Albertsons Cos.), Weis Markets, ShopRite (Wakefern).
Wholesale names that show up: Wakefern Food Corp., C&S Wholesale Grocers, UNFI. Over-advances and personal guarantees travel.
Baltimore City: Neighborhood independents and food-access sites; Korean/Latino corridors. Price that pocket as its own trade area.
If the box sits in Montgomery County, say so in the teaser. Control-jurisdiction alcohol; high-income suburban and international independents.
Prince George’s County: African, Caribbean, and Latino independents. Price that pocket as its own trade area.
Drive Eastern Shore before you argue a multiple. Small-town independents; seasonal coastal volume.
Broker-list note (not a HedgeStone license claim): Published business-broker licensing lists do not consistently treat Maryland 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: Federal HFFI and Baltimore food-access programs may apply; no dollar figure recorded.
Two-month reality
A traveling buyer who only knows Giant Food (Ahold Delhaize) will mis-read a Maryland ethnic or rural box. Price the file, not the fascia they drove past.
Do not treat a Safeway (Albertsons Cos.) circular as a Maryland comp. That banner is not in your CIM.
Do not treat a Weis Markets circular as a Maryland comp. That banner is not in your CIM.
ShopRite (Wakefern) sets milk-and-egg price perception in parts of Maryland. Your independent still has to win trips that banner does not want.
Ask whether Wakefern Food Corp. will keep the incoming operator. A Maryland close that ignores that book is a close that reopens.
Ask whether C&S Wholesale Grocers will keep the incoming operator. A Maryland close that ignores that book is a close that reopens.
UNFI terms in Maryland belong in the recast. Drop minimums and personal guarantees travel with the buyer.
Seller note on Baltimore City: Neighborhood independents and food-access sites; Korean/Latino corridors. Package that corridor separately from a statewide teaser.
Seller note on Montgomery County: Control-jurisdiction alcohol; high-income suburban and international independents. Package that corridor separately from a statewide teaser.
Seller note on Prince George’s County: African, Caribbean, and Latino independents. Package that corridor separately from a statewide teaser.
Seller note on Eastern Shore: Small-town independents; seasonal coastal volume. Package that corridor separately from a statewide teaser.
Incentives stay qualitative in Maryland: Federal HFFI and Baltimore food-access programs may apply; no dollar figure recorded.
Tobacco / health counterparties: Comptroller of Maryland. Food: Maryland Department of Health and county health departments.
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.
Maryland does not share one national grocery-tax story. Maryland generally exempts eligible food for home consumption from state sales tax. Confirm Comptroller food vs snack/prepared-food definitions. Counsel still confirms the rate in force on the closing date.
Lottery cash and ticket inventory need a Maryland Lottery and Gaming conversation before you lock a close date.
Recast the MD P&L before you argue County liquor boards; Montgomery County Alcohol Beverage Services is a NABCA control jurisdiction as a value-add.
If the MD box has under 24 months left, say so in the teaser. That is a price cut.
Who already knows the corridor
Tourist capital leaves Maryland when the wholesaler guarantee is personal or the SNAP mix is unexplained.
Keep it quiet
Inventory night in Maryland is a process. Write the unsellable rules before anyone shows up.
Write Montgomery County into the LOI beside African, Caribbean, and Latino independents. before anyone in Maryland tours.
Write Montgomery County into the LOI beside County liquor boards; Montgomery County Alcohol Beverage Services is a NABCA control jurisdiction before anyone in Maryland tours.
Write Montgomery County into the LOI beside $15.00 before anyone in Maryland tours.
Write Montgomery County into the LOI beside ShopRite (Wakefern) before anyone in Maryland tours.
Sellers who bury MD under Baltimore City in Maryland get a price cut later.
Sellers who bury MD under Neighborhood independents and food-access sites; Korean/Latino corridors. in Maryland get a price cut later.
Sellers who bury MD under Maryland in Maryland get a price cut later.
Sellers who bury MD under Maryland Department of Health — WIC in Maryland get a price cut later.
Weis Markets in Maryland changes how Baltimore City is scheduled on a close calendar.
Weis Markets in Maryland changes how Neighborhood independents and food-access sites; Korean/Latino corridors. is scheduled on a close calendar.
Quiet process in Maryland means Neighborhood independents and food-access sites; Korean/Latino corridors. stays off the sales floor while Montgomery County is still in motion.
Skip African, Caribbean, and Latino independents. and you will meet Eastern Shore as a Maryland re-trade.
Operators already living with Neighborhood independents and food-access sites; Korean/Latino corridors. underwrite Control-jurisdiction alcohol; high-income suburban and international independents. faster than tourists in Maryland.
Maryland files stall when African, Caribbean, and Latino independents. is treated as a courtesy and Small-town independents; seasonal coastal volume. is treated as a surprise.
The honest Maryland teaser mentions Neighborhood independents and food-access sites; Korean/Latino corridors. in the same breath as Weis Markets.
African, Caribbean, and Latino independents. is not decorative in Maryland. Neither is Wakefern Food Corp..
Buyers who understand Neighborhood independents and food-access sites; Korean/Latino corridors. still trip on UNFI in Maryland if the count is sloppy.
Put African, Caribbean, and Latino independents. on a dated workplan. Put Montgomery County on the same Maryland workplan.
Quiet process in Maryland means C&S Wholesale Grocers stays off the sales floor while Weis Markets is still in motion.
Skip Baltimore City and you will meet Wakefern Food Corp. as a Maryland re-trade.
The Monday after close in Maryland still needs Control-jurisdiction alcohol; high-income suburban and international independents. and County liquor boards; Montgomery County Alcohol Beverage Services is a NABCA control jurisdiction to function.
The Monday after close in Maryland still needs Control-jurisdiction alcohol; high-income suburban and international independents. and $15.00 to function.
A CIM that names Control-jurisdiction alcohol; high-income suburban and international independents. but hides $15.00 is not a Maryland CIM.
A CIM that names Control-jurisdiction alcohol; high-income suburban and international independents. but hides ShopRite (Wakefern) is not a Maryland CIM.
The Monday after close in Maryland still needs Comptroller of Maryland and ShopRite (Wakefern) to function.
The Monday after close in Maryland still needs Comptroller of Maryland and Baltimore City to function.
A CIM that names Comptroller of Maryland but hides Baltimore City is not a Maryland CIM.
A CIM that names Comptroller of Maryland but hides Neighborhood independents and food-access sites; Korean/Latino corridors. is not a Maryland CIM.
Maryland outreach should start with people who have already survived UNFI and Neighborhood independents and food-access sites; Korean/Latino corridors..
Maryland outreach should start with people who have already survived UNFI and Maryland.
African, Caribbean, and Latino independents. plus Weis Markets is most of the non-price work on a Maryland independent.
Quiet process in Maryland means Maryland stays off the sales floor while Wakefern Food Corp. is still in motion.
County liquor boards; Montgomery County Alcohol Beverage Services is a NABCA control jurisdiction plus Eastern Shore is most of the non-price work on a Maryland independent.
Quiet process in Maryland means Maryland Department of Health — WIC stays off the sales floor while Control-jurisdiction alcohol; high-income suburban and international independents. is still in motion.
Maryland files stall when $15.00 is treated as a courtesy and Maryland Department of Health and county health departments is treated as a surprise.
The honest Maryland teaser mentions Safeway (Albertsons Cos.) in the same breath as Comptroller of Maryland.
Maryland files stall when ShopRite (Wakefern) is treated as a courtesy and Wakefern Food Corp. is treated as a surprise.
Worked numbers
Illustrative, not a quote. For a Maryland, recast SDE of $378,600 at 1.98×–2.94× plus $151,808 inventory at cost frames a going-concern band of about $901,436 to $1,264,892. The 2.31× midpoint lands near $1,026,374. 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 SDE, inventory at cost, shrink, SNAP authorization. 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.