The honest North Dakota asking frame is recast SDE times a national sample multiple, plus counted inventory, minus holes in the lease and licenses.
Keep a cash reserve in North Dakota for the FNS gap. Authorization is location-and-owner specific. Skip blogs that invent how many North Dakota grocers exist. We did not. If someone quotes a “North Dakota grocery multiple,” ask for the table. This pack does not invent one.
How North Dakota grocery actually trades
Fargo–Moorhead (ND side) is not interchangeable with the rest of North Dakota. Primary independent/banner market. Your multiple argument is local even though the sourced comps are national. Bismarck–Mandan is not interchangeable with the rest of North Dakota. Capital-region stores. Your multiple argument is local even though the sourced comps are national. Grand Forks is not interchangeable with the rest of North Dakota. University and air-base trade. Your multiple argument is local even though the sourced comps are national. Minot / oil-patch towns is not interchangeable with the rest of North Dakota. Energy-cycle volume; rural independents. Your multiple argument is local even though the sourced comps are national.
DOL’s July 1, 2026 consolidated table lists North Dakota at Federal $7.25 (North Dakota equals the federal minimum wage of $7.25). Federal $7.25 applies per DOL table. Confirm Job Service / labor posters.
Asking price without fake comps
Illustrative, not a quote. A worked North Dakota sketch — not an offer — uses $315,173 of SDE and $258,495 of stockroom cost. Midpoint 2.43× lands near $1,024,365.
| Clock | Who owns it | Why it slips |
|---|---|---|
| Retail food | North Dakota Health and Human Services and local public health | New operator, not a sticker |
| Alcohol | North Dakota Office of Attorney General, Alcoholic Beverage Control | Approval, not a handshake |
| EBT | USDA FNS | New application |
| Inventory | Count crew | $258,495 illustrative cost |
Permits that slip dates
- Recast three North Dakota years into SDE a lender will believe
- Put North Dakota Office of Attorney General, Alcoholic Beverage Control on a dated workplan
- Pull sales-tax filings for North Dakota
- 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 SDE, inventory at cost, seller hub, confidential sale. Sibling: buy in North Dakota.
Tax and successor risk
Counsel still confirms the closing-date rate. The pack’s North Dakota note reads: North Dakota generally exempts eligible food from state sales tax. Confirm Tax Commissioner food vs prepared-food definitions.
North Dakota Office of Attorney General, Alcoholic Beverage Control runs a license system. Wine note: Off-premise wine is commonly available. Secondary sources note a physical separation requirement for grocery spirits — the store layout against current statute.. Spirits note: Generally allowed in grocery (thegrocerystoreguy), often with a separated department.. Secondary list: https://thegrocerystoreguy.com/what-states-allow-grocery-stores-to-sell-liquor/ (accessed 2026-09-03); local exceptions apply..
Payroll underwriting in ND starts at Federal $7.25 (North Dakota equals the federal minimum wage of $7.25) on the consolidated WHD table. Federal $7.25 applies per DOL table. Confirm Job Service / labor posters.
Clearance practice: Confirm Tax Commissioner tax clearance / successor liability on the asset sale.
Retail food: North Dakota Health and Human Services and local public health. WIC: North Dakota Health and Human Services — WIC. Tobacco: North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner.
Hornbacher’s / other Coborn’s banners is the name buyers mention first. The rest of the set is Cash Wise / Coborn’s, Walmart.
Wholesale names that show up: UNFI, Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG). Over-advances and personal guarantees travel.
If the box sits in Fargo–Moorhead (ND side), say so in the teaser. Primary independent/banner market.
Bismarck–Mandan is not “statewide North Dakota.” Capital-region stores.
Drive Grand Forks before you argue a multiple. University and air-base trade.
Minot / oil-patch towns: Energy-cycle volume; rural independents. 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 North Dakota 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 may apply in reservation-adjacent and rural stores; no dollar figure recorded.
Calendar
Do not treat a Hornbacher’s / other Coborn’s banners circular as a North Dakota comp. That banner is not in your CIM.
Cash Wise / Coborn’s sets milk-and-egg price perception in parts of North Dakota. Your independent still has to win trips that banner does not want.
A traveling buyer who only knows Walmart will mis-read a North Dakota ethnic or rural box. Price the file, not the fascia they drove past.
UNFI terms in North Dakota belong in the recast. Drop minimums and personal guarantees travel with the buyer.
Ask whether Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG) will keep the incoming operator. A North Dakota close that ignores that book is a close that reopens.
Seller note on Fargo–Moorhead (ND side): Primary independent/banner market. Package that corridor separately from a statewide teaser.
Seller note on Bismarck–Mandan: Capital-region stores. Package that corridor separately from a statewide teaser.
Seller note on Grand Forks: University and air-base trade. Package that corridor separately from a statewide teaser.
Seller note on Minot / oil-patch towns: Energy-cycle volume; rural independents. Package that corridor separately from a statewide teaser.
Incentives stay qualitative in North Dakota: Federal HFFI may apply in reservation-adjacent and rural stores; no dollar figure recorded.
Tobacco / health counterparties: North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner. Food: North Dakota Health and Human Services and local public health.
DOL’s July 1, 2026 consolidated table lists North Dakota at Federal $7.25 (North Dakota equals the federal minimum wage of $7.25). Federal $7.25 applies per DOL table. Confirm Job Service / labor posters.
Food-tax treatment changes what “sales” means on a North Dakota P&L. North Dakota generally exempts eligible food from state sales tax. Confirm Tax Commissioner food vs prepared-food definitions. Local add-ons can survive a state exemption.
If the store sells tickets, North Dakota Lottery is a separate retailer contract and is not part of the bill of sale.
Recast the ND P&L before you argue North Dakota Office of Attorney General, Alcoholic Beverage Control as a value-add.
If the ND box has under 24 months left, say so in the teaser. That is a price cut.
Who writes checks
The operators who close North Dakota files usually already know North Dakota Office of Attorney General, Alcoholic Beverage Control and the local banner set.
How to run it
Build the North Dakota calendar around North Dakota Office of Attorney General, Alcoholic Beverage Control and FNS, not around a Tuesday you announced to employees.
North Dakota outreach should start with people who have already survived North Dakota Health and Human Services and local public health and Grand Forks.
North Dakota outreach should start with people who have already survived North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner and Primary independent/banner market..
The Monday after close in North Dakota still needs North Dakota Health and Human Services and local public health and University and air-base trade. to function.
The Monday after close in North Dakota still needs North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner and North Dakota Health and Human Services — WIC to function.
A CIM that names North Dakota Health and Human Services and local public health but hides North Dakota Office of Attorney General, Alcoholic Beverage Control is not a North Dakota CIM.
A CIM that names North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner but hides North Dakota Health and Human Services — WIC is not a North Dakota CIM.
Ask how North Dakota Health and Human Services and local public health interacts with UNFI on this North Dakota lease and this privilege.
Ask how North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner interacts with Fargo–Moorhead (ND side) on this North Dakota lease and this privilege.
North Dakota outreach should start with people who have already survived North Dakota Health and Human Services and local public health and North Dakota Office of Attorney General, Alcoholic Beverage Control.
North Dakota outreach should start with people who have already survived North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner and North Dakota Health and Human Services — WIC.
Federal $7.25 (North Dakota equals the federal minimum wage of $7.25) plus Walmart is most of the non-price work on a North Dakota independent.
Quiet process in North Dakota means Federal $7.25 (North Dakota equals the federal minimum wage of $7.25) stays off the sales floor while Bismarck–Mandan is still in motion.
Federal $7.25 (North Dakota equals the federal minimum wage of $7.25) plus Bismarck–Mandan is most of the non-price work on a North Dakota independent.
Quiet process in North Dakota means Federal $7.25 (North Dakota equals the federal minimum wage of $7.25) stays off the sales floor while Capital-region stores. is still in motion.
North Dakota files stall when Federal $7.25 (North Dakota equals the federal minimum wage of $7.25) is treated as a courtesy and Capital-region stores. is treated as a surprise.
The honest North Dakota teaser mentions Federal $7.25 (North Dakota equals the federal minimum wage of $7.25) in the same breath as ND.
North Dakota files stall when Federal $7.25 (North Dakota equals the federal minimum wage of $7.25) is treated as a courtesy and ND is treated as a surprise.
The honest North Dakota teaser mentions Federal $7.25 (North Dakota equals the federal minimum wage of $7.25) in the same breath as North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner.
Federal $7.25 (North Dakota equals the federal minimum wage of $7.25) plus North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner is most of the non-price work on a North Dakota independent.
Quiet process in North Dakota means Federal $7.25 (North Dakota equals the federal minimum wage of $7.25) stays off the sales floor while Walmart is still in motion.
North Dakota stays qualitative on North Dakota Health and Human Services and local public health and North Dakota Health and Human Services — WIC wherever the research pack left a null.
North Dakota stays qualitative on North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner and Federal $7.25 (North Dakota equals the federal minimum wage of $7.25) wherever the research pack left a null.
North Dakota stays qualitative on North Dakota Health and Human Services and local public health and Cash Wise / Coborn’s wherever the research pack left a null.
North Dakota stays qualitative on North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner and UNFI wherever the research pack left a null.
Write North Dakota Health and Human Services and local public health into the LOI beside Fargo–Moorhead (ND side) before anyone in North Dakota tours.
Write North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner into the LOI beside Grand Forks before anyone in North Dakota tours.
Write North Dakota Health and Human Services and local public health into the LOI beside Primary independent/banner market. before anyone in North Dakota tours.
Worked numbers
Illustrative, not a quote. For a North Dakota, recast SDE of $244,595 at 1.84×–3.04× plus $249,530 inventory at cost frames a going-concern band of about $699,585 to $993,099. The 2.57× midpoint lands near $878,139. 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 turns, DSD, wholesaler, asset sale. 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.