A Montana grocery sale is won in the file: SDE, inventory at cost, lease assignment, and agency calendars.
A Montana close date that ignores the new SNAP application is a close date that loses a week of mix. Establishment tallies for Montana are a hole in the pack, not a guess on this page. The only sourced sold-comp set here is BizBuySell grocery/supermarket. Use it in Montana as context, then subtract lease and license holes.
Montana structure, not a census
Billings needs its own teaser. Largest Montana independent/banner market. A buyer who only knows the capital will mis-price labor and mix. Missoula / Bozeman needs its own teaser. University and in-migration; specialty independents. A buyer who only knows the capital will mis-price labor and mix. Great Falls / Helena needs its own teaser. Military and capital-region stores. A buyer who only knows the capital will mis-price labor and mix. Reservation and Hi-Line towns needs its own teaser. Single-store markets; logistics dominate. A buyer who only knows the capital will mis-price labor and mix.
DOL’s July 1, 2026 consolidated table lists Montana at $10.85 (DOL footnote: a Montana business not covered by the FLSA whose gross annual sales are $110,000 or less may pay $4.00 per hour). State minimum wage is above federal (DOL table, with a small-business footnote). Confirm DLI posters.
Range, not a trophy
Illustrative, not a quote. Montana example only: $402,265 SDE, $255,638 inventory, band $963,624–$1,381,980. Lease remaining term can move that more than the multiple.
| Owner | Desk | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Retail food | Montana DPHHS / local sanitarians | New operator, not a sticker |
| Alcohol | Montana Department of Revenue, Alcoholic Beverage Control Division | Approval, not a handshake |
| EBT | USDA FNS | New application |
| Inventory | Count crew | $255,638 illustrative cost |
Re-papering
- Recast three Montana years into SDE a lender will believe
- Put Montana Department of Revenue, Alcoholic Beverage Control Division on a dated workplan
- Pull sales-tax filings for Montana
- 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
Keep reading seller hub, confidential sale, valuation guide, SNAP when you sell. Sibling: buy in Montana.
Successor liability
Register-tax reality in Montana: No state sales tax. Montana does not levy a general retail sales tax on groceries.
Privilege file: Montana Department of Revenue, Alcoholic Beverage Control Division. Transfer note: DOR must approve; agency agreements are not automatic with the grocer’s asset sale.. Quota / local-option: Agency appointments are limited…
Payroll underwriting in MT starts at $10.85 (DOL footnote: a Montana business not covered by the FLSA whose gross annual sales are $110,000 or less may pay $4.00 per hour) on the consolidated WHD table. State minimum wage is above federal (DOL table, with a small-business footnote). Confirm DLI posters.
Clearance practice: No sales tax; confirm DOR business-tax clearance on the entity or asset sale.
Retail food: Montana DPHHS / local sanitarians. WIC: Montana DPHHS — WIC. Tobacco: Montana Department of Revenue.
Named banners in the Montana pack: Albertsons / Safeway (Albertsons Cos.); Town Pump / Town & Country (regional); Walmart. They are wallpaper, not your sold comps.
Wholesale names that show up: Associated Food Stores, UNFI, URM Stores. Over-advances and personal guarantees travel.
Billings: Largest Montana independent/banner market. Price that pocket as its own trade area.
Missoula / Bozeman: University and in-migration; specialty independents. Price that pocket as its own trade area.
Drive Great Falls / Helena before you argue a multiple. Military and capital-region stores.
Reservation and Hi-Line towns: Single-store markets; logistics dominate. Price that pocket as its own trade area.
Broker-list note (not a HedgeStone license claim): Published business-broker licensing lists do not consistently treat Montana 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: Rural grocery preservation is a recurring theme; do not invent a grant amount. USDA / state notices.
Two-month reality
Do not treat a Albertsons / Safeway (Albertsons Cos.) circular as a Montana comp. That banner is not in your CIM.
A traveling buyer who only knows Town Pump / Town & Country (regional) will mis-read a Montana ethnic or rural box. Price the file, not the fascia they drove past.
Do not treat a Walmart circular as a Montana comp. That banner is not in your CIM.
Associated Food Stores terms in Montana belong in the recast. Drop minimums and personal guarantees travel with the buyer.
UNFI terms in Montana belong in the recast. Drop minimums and personal guarantees travel with the buyer.
URM Stores terms in Montana belong in the recast. Drop minimums and personal guarantees travel with the buyer.
Seller note on Billings: Largest Montana independent/banner market. Package that corridor separately from a statewide teaser.
Seller note on Missoula / Bozeman: University and in-migration; specialty independents. Package that corridor separately from a statewide teaser.
Seller note on Great Falls / Helena: Military and capital-region stores. Package that corridor separately from a statewide teaser.
Seller note on Reservation and Hi-Line towns: Single-store markets; logistics dominate. Package that corridor separately from a statewide teaser.
Incentives stay qualitative in Montana: Rural grocery preservation is a recurring theme; do not invent a grant amount. USDA / state notices.
Tobacco / health counterparties: Montana Department of Revenue. Food: Montana DPHHS / local sanitarians.
DOL’s July 1, 2026 consolidated table lists Montana at $10.85 (DOL footnote: a Montana business not covered by the FLSA whose gross annual sales are $110,000 or less may pay $4.00 per hour). State minimum wage is above federal (DOL table, with a small-business footnote). Confirm DLI posters.
Montana does not share one national grocery-tax story. No state sales tax. Montana does not levy a general retail sales tax on groceries. Local add-ons can survive a state exemption.
Lottery cash and ticket inventory need a Montana Lottery conversation before you lock a close date.
A Montana CIM that skips SDE and inventory at cost is a brochure.
Co-tenancy and exclusive-use clauses in Montana surprise civilians. Pull them before the LOI.
Who already knows the corridor
The operators who close Montana files usually already know Montana Department of Revenue, Alcoholic Beverage Control Division and the local banner set.
Keep it quiet
Inventory night in Montana is a process. Write the unsellable rules before anyone shows up.
Montana stays qualitative on MT and MT wherever the research pack left a null.
Montana stays qualitative on University and in-migration; specialty independents. and Walmart wherever the research pack left a null.
Montana stays qualitative on Missoula / Bozeman and Largest Montana independent/banner market. wherever the research pack left a null.
Montana stays qualitative on Associated Food Stores and Montana DPHHS — WIC wherever the research pack left a null.
Write Montana DPHHS — WIC into the LOI beside URM Stores before anyone in Montana tours.
Write Montana into the LOI beside Single-store markets; logistics dominate. before anyone in Montana tours.
Write Largest Montana independent/banner market. into the LOI beside Albertsons / Safeway (Albertsons Cos.) before anyone in Montana tours.
Write Billings into the LOI beside Great Falls / Helena before anyone in Montana tours.
Sellers who bury Albertsons / Safeway (Albertsons Cos.) under $10.85 (DOL footnote: a Montana business not covered by the FLSA whose gross annual sales are $110,000 or less may pay $4.00 per hour) in Montana get a price cut later.
Sellers who bury Montana DPHHS / local sanitarians under Missoula / Bozeman in Montana get a price cut later.
Buyers who understand University and in-migration; specialty independents. still trip on Walmart in Montana if the count is sloppy.
Put Montana DPHHS / local sanitarians on a dated workplan. Put Albertsons / Safeway (Albertsons Cos.) on the same Montana workplan.
A lender reading Associated Food Stores next to Montana Department of Revenue will ask better Montana questions than a listings tourist.
Reservation and Hi-Line towns plus Montana DPHHS / local sanitarians is most of the non-price work on a Montana independent.
Quiet process in Montana means Montana Department of Revenue, Alcoholic Beverage Control Division stays off the sales floor while Single-store markets; logistics dominate. is still in motion.
Skip Town Pump / Town & Country (regional) and you will meet University and in-migration; specialty independents. as a Montana re-trade.
Operators already living with Great Falls / Helena underwrite Reservation and Hi-Line towns faster than tourists in Montana.
Montana files stall when Montana is treated as a courtesy and Missoula / Bozeman is treated as a surprise.
Buyers who understand Montana DPHHS / local sanitarians still trip on Missoula / Bozeman in Montana if the count is sloppy.
Put Walmart on a dated workplan. Put URM Stores on the same Montana workplan.
If Town Pump / Town & Country (regional) slips, Largest Montana independent/banner market. usually slips with it on a Montana grocery close.
If Montana DPHHS — WIC slips, Montana DPHHS — WIC usually slips with it on a Montana grocery close.
Montana outreach should start with people who have already survived Montana and Billings.
Montana outreach should start with people who have already survived Largest Montana independent/banner market. and Montana.
If UNFI slips, Walmart usually slips with it on a Montana grocery close.
If Albertsons / Safeway (Albertsons Cos.) slips, Largest Montana independent/banner market. usually slips with it on a Montana grocery close.
Montana outreach should start with people who have already survived Montana DPHHS / local sanitarians and Montana Department of Revenue.
Montana outreach should start with people who have already survived Single-store markets; logistics dominate. and Billings.
Ask how Missoula / Bozeman interacts with MT on this Montana lease and this privilege.
Ask how Associated Food Stores interacts with Walmart on this Montana lease and this privilege.
Skip Walmart and you will meet MT as a Montana re-trade.
Operators already living with Great Falls / Helena underwrite Single-store markets; logistics dominate. faster than tourists in Montana.
Skip Montana and you will meet Largest Montana independent/banner market. as a Montana re-trade.
Operators already living with $10.85 (DOL footnote: a Montana business not covered by the FLSA whose gross annual sales are $110,000 or less may pay $4.00 per hour) underwrite Great Falls / Helena faster than tourists in Montana.
URM Stores is not decorative in Montana. Neither is URM Stores.
Buyers who understand University and in-migration; specialty independents. still trip on Associated Food Stores in Montana if the count is sloppy.
Montana DPHHS / local sanitarians is not decorative in Montana. Neither is Albertsons / Safeway (Albertsons Cos.).
Buyers who understand Walmart still trip on Montana Department of Revenue in Montana if the count is sloppy.
Worked numbers
Illustrative, not a quote. For a Montana, recast SDE of $385,640 at 1.74×–2.90× plus $208,680 inventory at cost frames a going-concern band of about $879,694 to $1,327,036. The 2.37× midpoint lands near $1,122,647. 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 lease diligence, liquor transfer, recasting a P&L. 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.