Mintmead Funding, a small-business funding service in Louisville, Kentucky, explains how to get a business loan for a liquor store in Jefferson County: stock and equipment, buying a store, whether a liquor license can be financed, what partners review and the county's liquor store figures. License rules are for counsel.
Liquor store business loan for owners in Jefferson County, KY
Beer, wine and liquor stores counted 186 employer establishments in Jefferson County in 2023, 75.3% of them with fewer than five employees, and 856 employees in all (County Business Patterns 2023, NAICS 445310). By our arithmetic, that is about 4.6 employees per store by the county average.
Stock bought by the case fits inventory financing or a line of credit. Coolers, shelving and cameras fit equipment financing. Buying a store, or remodeling one, fits a term loan.
Liquor license loan business
A license is not equipment or stock, and whether it can be pledged, financed or transferred with a sale depends on state and local law. That makes the license the first thing to settle with counsel when a funding plan depends on it.
Can a liquor license be financed? A short answer for Louisville, KY
Some buyers fold the cost of acquiring a business that holds a license into the purchase price financed by a term loan; whether a partner treats the license itself as security is the partner's decision under the applicable law. Ask both counsel and the partner before counting on it.
Liquor license loan around Louisville, KY
Where a license has to be obtained or renewed before opening, the fees and timing sit in the plan as a cost before the store earns. Treat the license timeline as part of the funding timeline: a partner may not fund a store that cannot yet sell.
Business loan for a liquor store for owners in Jefferson County, KY
Illustration only, invented figures: a buyer pays $190,000 for an existing store, $40,000 of it in stock counted at closing. The buyer puts in $40,000, and a term loan covers $150,000 at 10.5% over 84 months: a payment of about $2,529 a month by our arithmetic, about $212,444 over the term. The test is whether that payment fits the store's slowest month on the seller's records.
Liquor store payroll and owner-run receipts in Jefferson County, KY
140 of Jefferson County's 186 beer, wine and liquor employers had fewer than five employees in 2023, and ZIP 40207 held 9 (County Business Patterns and ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023). Payroll at those employers came to $19.8 million, about $23,120 per employee by our arithmetic. Nonemployer Statistics 2024, a separate program, counted 38 such stores without paid employees, with $2.4 million in receipts, about $62,263 each by our arithmetic.
Ten days before closing on a Louisville, KY liquor store
- Agree in writing how the stock will be counted on closing day and at what price.
- Confirm the license status with counsel and the licensing office.
- Move utilities, the card processor and the store's insurance into the buyer's name.
- Get the security camera and point-of-sale logins from the seller.
- Line up the first stock order the buyer will place after closing.
Illustration only, invented figures: a buyer also replaces a failing cooler door set for $16,000 at 11.5% over 36 months, about $528 a month by our arithmetic, $18,994 over the term.
Liquor store financing: what Louisville, KY owners weigh
- The license status and whether it transfers.
- The seller's sales and tax records, month by month.
- The inventory count at closing and how it is priced.
- The store lease, and how many years it still runs.
- What secures the loan and whether a guarantee is required.
Grocers and liquor stores share a page on grocery store financing, and the Louisville, KY data page has the county figures. Hotel, agency and realtor funding are covered in other posts on the blog.
By Mintmead Funding · Updated
