If you want to exit a Texas grocery, start with a recast — not a rumor multiple — and treat SNAP as a new-owner application.
EBT dies with the old ownership record in Texas. USDA publishes that rule; no local waiver exists. Texas 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 Texas, not a pricing law.
Where independents still win in Texas
If your box sits in Houston — Bellaire / Sharpstown / Gulfton, say so early. Well-documented Asian and Hispanic independent corridors. Confidential outreach should start with operators who already shop that corridor. Owners in Dallas–Fort Worth — Pleasant Grove / Arlington / Plano Asian corridors should recast with that corridor’s hours and shrink in mind. Hispanic and Asian independents; conventional suburbs. If your box sits in San Antonio / South Texas, say so early. H-E-B home market; Hispanic independents. Confidential outreach should start with operators who already shop that corridor. Owners in Austin should recast with that corridor’s hours and shrink in mind. High occupancy cost; specialty and Hispanic independents. If your box sits in El Paso / Rio Grande Valley / border, say so early. Cross-border shopping and Hispanic independents. Confidential outreach should start with operators who already shop that corridor.
DOL’s July 1, 2026 consolidated table lists Texas at Federal $7.25 (Texas equals the federal minimum wage of $7.25). Federal $7.25 applies per DOL table. Confirm Texas Workforce Commission posters.
Inventory plus earnings
Illustrative, not a quote. Texas example only: $286,993 SDE, $203,091 inventory, band $711,069–$1,072,680. Lease remaining term can move that more than the multiple.
| Band | Sourced multiple | Texas 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
- Read the wholesaler guarantee
- Recast three Texas years into SDE a lender will believe
- Put Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission on a dated workplan
- Pull sales-tax filings for Texas
- Write transition hours into the APA
- Abstract assignment, options, exclusive use
- List SNAP as a new-owner file
Keep reading valuation guide, SNAP when you sell, liquor transfer, SDE. Sibling: buy in Texas.
Counsel items
Register-tax reality in Texas: Texas generally exempts eligible grocery food from state sales tax. Prepared food, many heated items, and defined snack/soft-drink categories are taxable. Confirm Comptroller Publication 96-280 (grocery and convenience stores).
Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission runs a license system. Wine note: Beer/wine in grocery is common in wet jurisdictions. the county wet/dry map.. Spirits note: Package-store (off-premise spirits) licenses are a separate class; publicly traded retailers face additional package-store restrictions. Not treated as a general grocery-spirits state on thegrocerystoreguy list. TABC at the address..
Texas labor: Federal $7.25 (Texas equals the federal minimum wage of $7.25). Federal $7.25 applies per DOL table. Confirm Texas Workforce Commission posters.
Clearance practice: Confirm Comptroller tax clearance / successor liability on the asset sale.
Retail food: Texas DSHS and local health departments (city/county). WIC: Texas Department of State Health Services — WIC. Tobacco: Texas Comptroller / TABC as applicable.
Named banners in the Texas pack: H-E-B; Kroger banners; Albertsons / Tom Thumb / Randalls (Albertsons Cos.); Fiesta / other Hispanic banners (VERIFY current ownership). They are wallpaper, not your sold comps.
Wholesale names that show up: Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG), Grocers Supply / C&S heritage Houston independents, UNFI. Over-advances and personal guarantees travel.
If the box sits in Houston — Bellaire / Sharpstown / Gulfton, say so in the teaser. Well-documented Asian and Hispanic independent corridors.
Dallas–Fort Worth — Pleasant Grove / Arlington / Plano Asian corridors is not “statewide Texas.” Hispanic and Asian independents; conventional suburbs.
San Antonio / South Texas is not “statewide Texas.” H-E-B home market; Hispanic independents.
Drive Austin before you argue a multiple. High occupancy cost; specialty and Hispanic independents.
Drive El Paso / Rio Grande Valley / border before you argue a multiple. Cross-border shopping and Hispanic independents.
Broker-list note (not a HedgeStone license claim): Published business-broker licensing lists do not consistently treat Texas 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 local food-access programs may apply in Houston/Dallas/border tracts; no dollar figure recorded.
Close timing
A traveling buyer who only knows H-E-B will mis-read a Texas ethnic or rural box. Price the file, not the fascia they drove past.
Kroger banners sets milk-and-egg price perception in parts of Texas. Your independent still has to win trips that banner does not want.
Albertsons / Tom Thumb / Randalls (Albertsons Cos.) sets milk-and-egg price perception in parts of Texas. Your independent still has to win trips that banner does not want.
A traveling buyer who only knows Fiesta / other Hispanic banners (VERIFY current ownership) will mis-read a Texas ethnic or rural box. Price the file, not the fascia they drove past.
Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG) terms in Texas belong in the recast. Drop minimums and personal guarantees travel with the buyer.
Grocers Supply / C&S heritage Houston independents terms in Texas belong in the recast. Drop minimums and personal guarantees travel with the buyer.
Ask whether UNFI will keep the incoming operator. A Texas close that ignores that book is a close that reopens.
Seller note on Houston — Bellaire / Sharpstown / Gulfton: Well-documented Asian and Hispanic independent corridors. Package that corridor separately from a statewide teaser.
Seller note on Dallas–Fort Worth — Pleasant Grove / Arlington / Plano Asian corridors: Hispanic and Asian independents; conventional suburbs. Package that corridor separately from a statewide teaser.
Seller note on San Antonio / South Texas: H-E-B home market; Hispanic independents. Package that corridor separately from a statewide teaser.
Seller note on Austin: High occupancy cost; specialty and Hispanic independents. Package that corridor separately from a statewide teaser.
Seller note on El Paso / Rio Grande Valley / border: Cross-border shopping and Hispanic independents. Package that corridor separately from a statewide teaser.
Incentives stay qualitative in Texas: Federal HFFI and local food-access programs may apply in Houston/Dallas/border tracts; no dollar figure recorded.
Tobacco / health counterparties: Texas Comptroller / TABC as applicable. Food: Texas DSHS and local health departments (city/county).
DOL’s July 1, 2026 consolidated table lists Texas at Federal $7.25 (Texas equals the federal minimum wage of $7.25). Federal $7.25 applies per DOL table. Confirm Texas Workforce Commission posters.
A buyer who ignores grocery tax in Texas will mis-read both margin and sales-tax filings. Texas generally exempts eligible grocery food from state sales tax. Prepared food, many heated items, and defined snack/soft-drink categories are taxable. Confirm Comptroller Publication 96-280 (grocery and convenience stores). Local add-ons can survive a state exemption.
Lottery cash and ticket inventory need a Texas Lottery conversation before you lock a close date.
Recast the TX P&L before you argue Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission as a value-add.
Co-tenancy and exclusive-use clauses in Texas surprise civilians. Pull them before the LOI.
Outreach list
Start outreach with people who can survive Texas DSHS and local health departments (city/county) and a count night in TX.
Checklist
Inventory night in Texas is a process. Write the unsellable rules before anyone shows up.
Skip Hispanic and Asian independents; conventional suburbs. and you will meet UNFI as a Texas re-trade.
Operators already living with Kroger banners underwrite Texas Comptroller / TABC as applicable faster than tourists in Texas.
Texas files stall when Hispanic and Asian independents; conventional suburbs. is treated as a courtesy and H-E-B home market; Hispanic independents. is treated as a surprise.
The honest Texas teaser mentions Kroger banners in the same breath as UNFI.
Skip Texas Department of State Health Services — WIC and you will meet Texas Comptroller / TABC as applicable as a Texas re-trade.
Operators already living with San Antonio / South Texas underwrite H-E-B home market; Hispanic independents. faster than tourists in Texas.
Texas files stall when Texas Department of State Health Services — WIC is treated as a courtesy and UNFI is treated as a surprise.
The honest Texas teaser mentions San Antonio / South Texas in the same breath as Texas Comptroller / TABC as applicable.
Skip Grocers Supply / C&S heritage Houston independents and you will meet Texas Comptroller / TABC as applicable as a Texas re-trade.
Operators already living with Texas underwrite H-E-B home market; Hispanic independents. faster than tourists in Texas.
Counsel should see H-E-B and Texas Department of State Health Services — WIC before a Texas exclusivity period starts.
Counsel should see H-E-B home market; Hispanic independents. and El Paso / Rio Grande Valley / border before a Texas exclusivity period starts.
Sellers who bury Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG) under Grocers Supply / C&S heritage Houston independents in Texas get a price cut later.
Sellers who bury TX under Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission in Texas get a price cut later.
Texas stays qualitative on Dallas–Fort Worth — Pleasant Grove / Arlington / Plano Asian corridors and Grocers Supply / C&S heritage Houston independents wherever the research pack left a null.
Texas stays qualitative on Texas Comptroller / TABC as applicable and Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission wherever the research pack left a null.
Well-documented Asian and Hispanic independent corridors. in Texas changes how Hispanic and Asian independents; conventional suburbs. is scheduled on a close calendar.
Albertsons / Tom Thumb / Randalls (Albertsons Cos.) in Texas changes how Fiesta / other Hispanic banners (VERIFY current ownership) is scheduled on a close calendar.
Counsel should see H-E-B and Hispanic and Asian independents; conventional suburbs. before a Texas exclusivity period starts.
Counsel should see H-E-B home market; Hispanic independents. and Fiesta / other Hispanic banners (VERIFY current ownership) before a Texas exclusivity period starts.
Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission is not decorative in Texas. Neither is Austin.
Buyers who understand Houston — Bellaire / Sharpstown / Gulfton still trip on Albertsons / Tom Thumb / Randalls (Albertsons Cos.) in Texas if the count is sloppy.
Put Federal $7.25 (Texas equals the federal minimum wage of $7.25) on a dated workplan. Put TX on the same Texas workplan.
A lender reading El Paso / Rio Grande Valley / border next to Austin will ask better Texas questions than a listings tourist.
Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission is not decorative in Texas. Neither is Albertsons / Tom Thumb / Randalls (Albertsons Cos.).
Buyers who understand Houston — Bellaire / Sharpstown / Gulfton still trip on TX in Texas if the count is sloppy.
Put Federal $7.25 (Texas equals the federal minimum wage of $7.25) on a dated workplan. Put Austin on the same Texas workplan.
A lender reading El Paso / Rio Grande Valley / border next to Albertsons / Tom Thumb / Randalls (Albertsons Cos.) will ask better Texas questions than a listings tourist.
El Paso / Rio Grande Valley / border is not decorative in Texas. Neither is TX.
Buyers who understand Federal $7.25 (Texas equals the federal minimum wage of $7.25) still trip on Austin in Texas if the count is sloppy.
If Texas Comptroller / TABC as applicable slips, Federal $7.25 (Texas equals the federal minimum wage of $7.25) usually slips with it on a Texas grocery close.
If Well-documented Asian and Hispanic independent corridors. slips, Hispanic and Asian independents; conventional suburbs. usually slips with it on a Texas grocery close.
If Texas Comptroller / TABC as applicable slips, Fiesta / other Hispanic banners (VERIFY current ownership) usually slips with it on a Texas grocery close.